Sweat of the Battle
by Alexa Skywalker
Summary: Full summary inside: With the twins born, and Anakin and Padme slipping easily into their new roles, Acacia feels a sort of restless confusion. Yes, her brother's family is hers, but she knows there's more out there for her. Meanwhile, Anakin is distracted, searching for the spy among them. The siblings' deepest desires pull them planets apart, but only together can they survive.
1. Prologue

**Full summary: **Without the other, both will die.

The twins are born, the action's over and, though Anakin and Padme slip easily into their new roles, all Acacia feels is restless confusion. She doesn't doubt her brother's love – that his family is her family – but there's gotta be more out there for her than screaming infants and constant diaper changes. She just doesn't know where to find it.

Meanwhile, Anakin searches for Choler's spy, the mysterious woman in the Nabooian Senate cloak. He doesn't want to believe that someone Padme trusts would betray them, but he can't ignore the facts.

The Dark Side closes in; the battle draws near. The siblings deepest desires pull them planets apart, but only together can they survive.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey peoples! I wanna thank all my old readers for coming back and reading the next installment in my Star Wars saga. It seriously means the world that you enjoy my writing! I love you all!

To my new readers, welcome! Just so you know, this is the sequel to Blood of the Family which is the sequel to Burned by the Dark, so you might wanna read those two first. Otherwise, you'll likely be really confused.

Oh also, little disclaimer here: **I don't own Star Wars (obviously).** That honor goes to Disney, I believe. Lucky them.

Without further ado, here is the beginning of the (I hope, lol) much-anticipated _Sweat of the Battle_.

* * *

Prologue

"Any progress?"

The masked man breathes out in a nervous _p-woosh_, his ventilator amplifying the sound. "No, my Master."

The scarred man whirls around, yellow teeth barred, face twisted in a mask of malice. "And... why... _not_?" he asks, carefully enunciating each word.

"Rest assured, Master, she's doing her best. But she has to be careful; she must ensure the Skywalkers do not sense the truth of her loyalties."

"Bah!" The Emperor sneers and turns away. "You should have captured them a month ago. You have done nothing, _nothing._" The Dark Lord whips back around, fury sparking in his saffron eyes. "Are you even _trying_ anymore?"

Vader nods slowly, using the Force to cloak his emotions: anger, fear, a sprinkle of hate - gladness that, with his mask, he doesn't have to worry about his face giving him away. "The agent is trying, my Master, and we have a plan. The Skywalkers will be in your power soon."

"You would do well to hope, Lord Vader, that your version of soon and mine are very, very similar."

"I'm sure they are, M'lord."

"Good." The Emperor sinks into his chair - his throne, as he likes to think of it. "It would be a shame if _I_ had to take over _your_ operation... as I did last time."

Vader pauses. "Last time was a mistake," he admits finally, the last word bitter in his mouth. "My agent was careless, she trusted the wrong people-"

"And their incompetence nearly ruined everything! Had I not turned the situation to our good..." The scarred Sith trails off, knowing his apprentice will take each accusation to heart. That each reminder will provoke him, compelling Vader to bring the task to fast and flawless completion.

"I am aware of your involvement and the need behind it, Master," Vader replies. "Such a situation will not arise again."

The Emperor nods, smiling slightly. "I take you at your word, Lord Vader." In a nanosecond, the smile slips to a frown. "Do not fail me again."

Though he knows his master believes the conversation over, the masked man has more to say. Silently, he weighs his options, then plunges forward. "If I may pose a question?"

His Master waves a hand, and Vader takes this for an affirmative. "Do you still wish Anakin to join us? Or should we kill him as well?"

"Anakin _will_ join us," Sidious replies. "Eventually. But do not allow that to mitigate your efforts. _You_ survived burning in lava, after all." Vader resists the urge to wince at the memory. "I am sure Anakin can do something similar - or greater - should his desire for life be strong enough.

"What I want is to remove all distractions, to kill everyone he loves, to destroy any place he feels safe. Essentially, Lord Vader, you and your agent are to _break_ him.

"And then, when he has nowhere left to go, Anakin will crawl to the Dark Side, begging me to make his worthless life meaningful once again. To help him forget what was stolen, to give him anything to ease the pain."

Vader frowns behind his mask. "Forgive me, Master, but why would Anakin come to you if you took away everything he loves?"

"Because he will not care. Because he will be so broken, so utterly shattered, he will feel he has nowhere else to go.

"I know Anakin; I have since before he was born. Eventually, a more desperate desire will usurp his hate, his thirst for vengeance. The Dark Side is already in him; it will whisper that I can fulfill all his wants. When Anakin drags himself into my presence, I will.

"And then, he will forget all that was before."

Vader nods. "If you say so, Master."

"I do," Sidious snaps. "You are _sure_ your agent is on the job?" he adds, and Vader knows the former strain of conversation is over.

"I'm positive. Do not worry, Master; we are closing in. The Senator and the children will not be alive much longer."

Sidious cackles. "And then Anakin will be mine."

* * *

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	2. Chapter 1

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* * *

**Chapter 1**

"You're doing great. Let's go through it again."

Padme shot her husband a look. "I thought you said I was doing _great_."

"You are," he replied with a grin. "Phenomenal, in fact. I'm not sure _I_ learned this fast."

Padme raised her eyebrows. "And you _would_ be the standard, wouldn't you, Ani?"

Humor sparking in his blue eyes, Anakin stepped forward and kissed her briefly; when he pulled back, he was grinning again. "Obviously."

"Hey, lovebirds." A dry voice sliced through the peace of the garden, and they turned around to see Anakin's sister, Acacia Lars.

"What do you want, Squirt?"

She scowled. "You _know_ I hate that name."

Anakin smirked. "Well, why do you think I use it?"

"Wait," Padme said, "there's a _story_ behind that name?"

Her husband opened his mouth, but Acacia cut him off. "No," she stated firmly, shooting her brother a venomous look. "Anyways, I came to tell you you're gonna need to cut your training time short. Luke is up, and Leia's stirring."

"Oh good." Padme said, sheathing her saber. "Again tomorrow, Ani?"

"One more time, Padme, come on. Acacia can watch them for a few minutes, can't you, Caish?"

She frowned. "One second I'm 'Squirt,' the next I'm 'Caish' when you need to beg me to do something."

"You catch on _so_ quick."

"Whatever." Acacia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I can watch them. But _only_ for a few minutes. I've got stuff to do, too, you know."

"Sure you do." His sister glared and opened her mouth to retort, but Anakin cut her off with, "Thanks." To which she rolled her eyes again, and stomped off towards the house.

"There's some bottles in the fridge, Acacia," Padme called after her. "Thanks for your help."

Acacia nodded, waving a hand over her shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, sure."

Once the younger girl was gone, Padme turned back to her husband, one hand on her hip and a frown on her face. "You shouldn't tease her like that."

Anakin scoffed. "She's my _sister_, Padme. What else am I supposed to do to her? Now, come on, we should get through this exercise one more time."

Padme sighed. "Since when were you so studious?"

For a minute, Anakin stayed silent, flipping his lightsaber over in his hand and catching the hilt again. "You want the truth?"

"Obviously."

"I think," he said with a grimace, "after all these years, Obi-Wan has finally rubbed off on me."

Padme laughed. "He'd be glad to hear it."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Now-"

"I know. I know. We get to do it again."

* * *

"Go watch the twins, Acacia. Could you feed them a bottle, Acacia? Hold one while I work on this, Acacia; I mean, you've got nothing _better_ to do. Stars and galaxies, you'd think the little brats were _mine_."

The minute the words were out, though, Acacia felt awash with guilt. The truth was, she _did_ love her niece and nephew. A lot. And she was happy to help her brother and Padme whenever she could.

But come _on_! She was a Jedi, for Force's sake! She wasn't supposed to sit around watching babies drool all day. She was _made_ for action. She had to do something – _anything_ really, as long as she felt like it furthered the Jedi cause.

And, sitting in a summer-house on Naboo, bottle-feeding her two-month-old nephew didn't cut it.

Acacia sighed, and with the sigh, an idea sparked in her head. Maybe there _was_ something she could do now.

The bottle empty, she shifted Luke to her shoulder and gently burped the baby, mind a million miles from her task. Whenever Anakin wasn't training with Padme or playing with the twins, he'd spent most of his time searching for the "cloaked woman," the one Choler had mentioned. So far, Anakin hadn't found much.

But, since burping a baby didn't require much brainpower, Acacia figured she might as well do some thinking on it, go over the few clues they _had_ found. Maybe she could pick up something Anakin had missed.

Ten minutes later, when he and Padme came in, smiling and laughing like they were the only two on Naboo, all Acacia had was a bantha-load of frustration for her efforts. Not wanting any questions, she quickly cloaked it, using a mental block Obi-Wan had taught her a few weeks before.

And just in time. A second later, their eyes fell on her, and Padme said, "Oh good, you're done. Is Leia up yet?"

Acacia shook her head. "She stopped stirring once I took Luke out. I think he was waking her up."

"Ah, well," Padme checked her wrist-chrono, "I should probably get her up now, anyway. Thanks again, Caish."

"No problem," she said – even though that wasn't strictly true.

Anakin turned to her, and Acacia wondered why her brother was snickering. "Hey, I'll take Luke for you now. You, uh," a chuckle escaped his lips. "You might want to go change your shirt."

Acacia frowned, confused, and glanced over her shoulder – only to find a steady stream of slimy, white spit-up trickling down her back. "Ew!" she screeched. "Take him!"

Anakin's self-restraint burst then and, laughing out loud, he took his son from his sister. She glared, and his laughter quieted back to snickers, but of course it didn't stop.

"The things I do for you," she muttered, twisting around to get a better look at the disgusting mess. "And that was my last clean shirt!"

"You can borrow one of mine," he offered, still sniggering. "Or Padme's might be better. But you should've put a cloth on your shoulder first," he reminded, and inwardly, Acacia admitted she should have, but she'd been too lost in thought to think of it.

_Lost in thought?_ Her brother's voice popped into her head. _About what?_

_None of your business._ She quickly set up the shield again, hoping she'd done it right this time. The last thing she needed was her brother poking around in her head and seeing the prickle of resentment she'd indulged earlier; she knew there was no way he'd understand her feelings.

Since the twins' birth, Anakin had mellowed out so much, he was almost like a _family_ man, and he didn't seem to crave the action at all. Shocking as it was, her brother couldn't identify with the restlessness stirring within her. Not anymore.

Plus he'd find out that, since her thoughts on the veiled woman had been fruitless, she'd gotten puked on for nothing.

Anakin opened his mouth like he was going to insist, but she ducked around him and strode down the hall to his bedroom, where she grabbed a smaller shirt of Padme's to replace the one Luke had ruined. Before Anakin could catch her again, she hurried to her own bedroom, and shut the door behind her.

After changing her clothes, Acacia shook out her long, dark hair, stared at herself in the mirror, and thought, _Such is the life of a twelve-year-old Jedi Aunt._

* * *

Later that evening, Padme announced, "There's a senate meeting the day after tomorrow."

Anakin raised his eyebrows. "And?"

"And I need to be there," his wife replied, eyebrows raised as if daring him to challenge her. "I haven't since before the twins were born, and this one will be important. We're discussing that academy the Emperor wants to set up."

Acacia, who'd been lounging in a chair, staring absently at the HoloNet, sat straight up. "So you're going to Coruscant?"

Padme nodded. "You'll come with me, of course. As the new handmaiden."

"And I'll be going too," Anakin said, in a tone that left no room for argument.

Padme argued anyway. "Ani... it's been a while. People might think extra security is overkill."

"Let them think what they want, Padme. I can't let you go back there alone."

"Ahem," Acacia cleared her throat. "And what am I?"

"Don't get me wrong, Caish," Anakin looked to his sister, and for once, there was sincerity in his blue eyes, "you're good. I just..." He turned back to Padme. "I'd feel better if I was there."

"And you're not going to take no for an answer," Padme said dryly, though a twitch of a smile played at her lips.

"Definitely not."

"Fine." She shrugged. "I guess I'm taking you both then."

Anakin nodded, and Acacia settled back in her chair, but she wasn't watching the Net any more than she'd been before Padme came in. Finally, after two, long months, _something_ was going to happen. Even if she'd only act as handmaiden and bodyguard, at least she'd be _moving._

The girl grinned. She'd never been so excited for a Senate meeting.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 2

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* * *

Chapter 2

As Anakin helped his wife pack the next day, a familiar surge of excitement rushed through him. That tingling feeling of "Oh yeah!" whenever he prepared to do something potentially dangerous.

The last two months had been very calm – and he'd enjoyed them; time spent with his family was never time wasted or regretted.

Still, some tiny part of him still missed the action, the thrilling peril he once thirsted after. And that part leapt with joy at the idea of returning to Coruscant.

"You're happy about going back, aren't you?" Padme asked, as she scanned the back of the closet for non-maternity dresses.

Anakin shrugged, leaning back against the wall. "A little," he said, even though he knew he couldn't hide his feelings from his wife.

Sure enough, when she turned back to look at him, Padme smiled and shook her head. "You're practically suicidal."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Padme, just because I like a little action now and then–"

"It's not a '_little_ action' we're talking about, Ani," she replied, pulling out a crimson-red dress and examining it in the mirror. "We're heading right back to the Emperor and Vader."

The smile fell off his face, and a burning hatred took over all his excitement. Quickly though, the Jedi suppressed the Dark feelings, better than he ever could before. "I know," he answered. "That's why I want to be there." He stepped forward and brushed his fingers down his wife's bare arm. "To protect you."

Padme looked up, eyeing him with a twitch of a smile. "I know," she echoed. "But I _also_ know that's not your only reason. You're eager to go back, at least partially for the danger."

Anakin grinned, and Padme rolled her eyes, resuming her quest for suitable Senate wear. "Well... yes," he admitted. "Partially. It's been quiet around here the last few months."

"Quiet isn't a bad thing, Ani," she replied, pulling out another dark blue outfit. "What do you think of this dress?"

"Looks great," he said, without laying eyes on it. "And trust me, I know quiet isn't bad. I want nothing more than for you, the twins, and Acacia to be safe. But as long as you _are_ safe," He shrugged. "I might as well have a little fun."

Padme laughed. "Only you, Anakin." She cocked her head. "And Acacia. I think she feels the same way."

"Yeah. She's been pretty restless since Obi-Wan visited." Anakin frowned slightly, recalling the day before, when his sister had abruptly shut him out of her thoughts. "Maybe this will snap her out of it."

Padme raised her eyebrows. "'Snap her out of it?' You used to be the same way. Worse even."

Anakin nodded. "I know. What I meant was... you know, give her enough of a taste that she'll be all right for a while. That we'll _both_ be all right for a while." He paused. "Do you think I should talk to her?"

"You know her better than I do."

"But you're a girl." She raised her eyebrows again. "A woman." Anakin waved a hand and rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Well..." Padme said, folding up the dress. "She might not want your help with this, whatever it is. But you _should_ be there to listen if you think she needs someone."

"Hard if she won't talk to me."

Padme nodded. "Yes. But, Anakin, Acacia's growing up."

He groaned. "Don't remind me."

Padme smiled slightly before growing serious again. "Honestly, though, it may be time she found her own way."

"Well," Anakin sighed, "hopefully that day will wait a while before coming."

Padme studied her husband, sympathy in her eyes, then returned to packing her clothes. "Hopefully."

"Imagine," Anakin went on, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Imagine when the_ twins_ are that age."

"I'd rather not."

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, me neither."

A nostalgic mood fell over the room, as the husband and wife silently remembered times gone by, unwilling to even peek into their uncertain futures. After a moment, Padme shook it off and broke the silence. "You know, Ani, you said you wanted to help me pack."

He turned to her, the playful light slinking back into his blue eyes. "I _did_ help. You asked me what I thought of the red dress, and I said it looked fine."

"I asked you what you thought of the _blue_ one." Padme laughed. "And you barely glanced at it."

"Well..." Anakin scrambled for an excuse, "that's because you look great in anything."

Padme rolled her eyes. "You think flattery will keep you out of trouble?"

He stood up and stepped forward, eyes still twinkling with mischief. "Will it?"

She tilted her head, laying a kiss on his lips. "It just might."

"Oh dear, Master Anakin, Mistress Padme. I- I- I did not mean to interrupt. I'll just... I'll come back later."

Anakin sighed, but he smiled down at Padme before turning to the protocol droid. "What is it, 3PO?"

The golden droid paused and turned back. "Your parents, Mistress Padme, are here to see you. Miss Acacia sent me to get you both; she's out training in the courtyard."

"Thanks, 3PO. We'll be down in a moment."

The droid nodded and shuffled off, muttering about the embarrassing inconveniences of living with a young couple.

"Lucky for him we weren't doing anything worse." Anakin smirked. "His circuits would be forever fried."

Padme laughed. "Probably. Well, come on. We shouldn't keep my parents waiting."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure," Anakin muttered under his breath, and Padme pretended not to hear him. Instead, she simply took her husband's hand and led him down to the living room, where Ruwee and Jobal waited.

* * *

The minute they strode in, the Naberries looked at Anakin like it was _their_ living room and _he_ was the intruder. They weren't outright hostile, but they sure weren't about to run up and hug him either.

"I'll get straight to the point," Jobal said, scooting closer as Anakin and Padme sat opposite them. "Of course we can take care of the twins, and of course we'd love to help you–"

"So there's no problem then?"

Jobal and Padme glared at Anakin, and Ruwee frowned, so the Jedi decided to keep his mouth shut – for now.

"No, there's definitely a problem," Jobal went on, face still scrunched like she'd just sniffed the wrong end of a bantha. "You're parents now." _Thanks for the heads up,_ Anakin thought, but his lips stayed together. "You have to think of your responsibilities first."

"And we have, Mama," Padme replied patiently. "It's why we asked you to watch them."

"What your mother means, Padme," Ruwee started, leaning forward like his wife, "is that it should be you and Anakin with the twins whenever possible. They need time to bond with you."

Anakin bristled. For saber's sake, he and Padme had been on Naboo for two months! If they hadn't bonded with the twins by now, he wasn't sure a fusion reaction would do it.

The Jedi opened his mouth to say as much, but his wife interrupted. "We've been here for a while, Mama," she said, not looking at her husband, but squeezing his hand as if to say, _Let me do the talking, please._ "I think the twins will be fine without us for a few days."

Jobal sighed. "It's not about that. It's about your _responsibility_ to your family. You know I supported you as a senator, dear, but _only_ until you had a family of your own. After that your job – both of your jobs," she added with a pointed look in Anakin's direction, "–is to settle down and care for them.

"Take Acacia for instance," she added, and Anakin bristled again, knowing that, whatever Jobal was about to say, he was not going to like it. Seeing a cup of water on the table, he reached for it, taking a sip, hoping that would keep him cool.

"We just saw her out there," Jobal went on, "practicing her– her Force stuff in the garden. But how old is she? Thirteen? Fourteen?"

"Twelve," Anakin admitted, after unclenching his teeth.

"Precisely my point." Jobal pointed her finger and leaned back, like she'd just laid down an undefeatable argument. "Acacia should be in a stable home, spending time with people her own age. Allowed to enroll in school, maybe even get a boyfriend."

On the last word, Anakin choked on his water, then spent about twenty seconds hacking, so in shock he couldn't even use the Force to help himself. The very idea! His baby sister have a _boyfriend_? What in the Galaxy was _wrong_ with this woman?

After ensuring that Anakin was not going to die within the next few moments, his mother-in-law continued. "All children need stable environments and constant presences, Luke, Leia, and Acacia included. None of this can be healthy for them."

Anakin kept his lips clamped shut as Padme reassured her mother that yes, everything was going to be all right. And yes, they knew what they were doing. And no, it wouldn't scar any of the children for life if they went to this meeting. Much as he wanted to speak up, Anakin just listened, knowing that if he did open his mouth, words would come out that were not advantageous to their cause.

But _seriously_! Anakin could understand Jobal being worried about the twins – they _were_ her grandchildren, after all. Even though it would be nice if, once in a while, she remembered that they were _his_ children, and he was perfectly capable of deciding what was best for them.

But to throw in Acacia! For star's sake, she was _his_ sister. _His_! Jobal had no right to sit there on her high hovercraft and tell him he wasn't raising _his _sister properly.

_Well, geez, Anakin, calm down._ The very girl in question whispered in his head. _Maybe she's saying that because she cares. Who knows? I might've grown on her in the past two months._

Anakin inwardly scoffed. _Well good for you, cause I sure as heck haven't._

_And you don't care._

_Not a bit._

She giggled. _Well, for the record, I'm glad we're going. I've missed the action, you know._ Her mental tone was jokey, but Anakin could sense the longing that curled up and hid beneath her playfulness.

_Yeah, I know. So have I_.

He felt her smile. _Skywalker sibs back in business?_

_Technically, you're a Lars._

_I can be both. I'm talented like that._

Anakin shook his head, hiding a smile so the Naberries wouldn't think he was insane. _I'm sure you are._

* * *

It took a while, but finally, Padme convinced her parents to babysit the twins while they were at the meeting. But "under protest," the Naberries claimed, and Anakin knew he'd hear a similar argument the next time he and Padme needed to go somewhere.

And, they all knew, there _would_ be a next time.

Acacia came back in as they were leaving, and Jobal shot Anakin a look as the girl walked through the door. But, before his blood could boiled too much, Acacia winked at him, and his anger abated. His sister was happy, whatever Jobal and Ruwee thought. What else really mattered?

A piercing cry from the nursery reminded him that two small babies with his last name _really_ mattered, and they weren't going to rest until he realized it.

As Padme took Luke, Anakin cradled Leia to his chest, whispering softly in her ear to calm her down. Slowly, she relaxed against him, her tiny baby fists resting just over his heart – over the burn – and her cries softened to adorable cooing noises as if she were trying to speak to him.

He smiled at her, kissed the soft dark down on her head, and in his heart, he knew the one thing Ruwee and Jobal would never understand: he wasn't just "traipsing about the Galaxy." Though he did enjoy the action, it wasn't about fun anymore. It was about _fixing_ the Galaxy, making it right, returning it to good, so he wouldn't have to worry about his children. So he could spend all day holding them and rocking them and cooing to them like this. So he could watch his sister train for the fun of it, without knowing that every right move might mean her life and any wrong one might mean her death. So he could spend hours talking to Padme of nothing, just sitting there and _being_ with the one he loved most.

A Galaxy in which everyone he loved would be perfectly safe and would never be hurt again. That was what he hoped to achieve.

That was why he had to go to Coruscant.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 3

**Hello! Thanks for all your wonderful reviews! I really appreciate it! :D**

* * *

Chapter 3

The holopic fluttered to the floor as she shook out an old travelbag. Curious, Acacia reached down and picked it up, flipping the paper over in her fingers to get a better look.

The girl's heart stuttered, and she gasped. _Owen._ Stars, she hadn't thought about her brother in forever. A guilty feeling slithered into her chest, wrapping around her heart like a sand-snake and pulling tighter than a tourniquet. What kind of a girl was she anyway? How could she have forgotten her _family_?

_I didn't forget them,_ Acacia defended herself, _I've just... been busy._ And it was true – up until two months ago. But since then her days had only contained baby-watching, training, and searching for the ever-elusive veiled woman.

_And feeling sorry for myself._

The guilt squeezed tighter.

Staring at the picture, her big brother holding her on his shoulders while little Acacia giggled through eternity, older Acacia wondered if she ought to contact Owen. Other than Anakin, he was the only family she had and vice versa.

Her fingers were brushing the edge of her comm when she remembered: she was a Jedi, therefore she was technically a criminal, therefore she was officially in hiding. When the Council let her stay with Anakin and Padme, they'd revoked her "Active" status, but still, she was about a million parsecs from being safe. If she contacted Owen and Beru, might Sidious catch wind of it, remember she had family on Tattooine, and send someone to kill them? Those very thoughts had kept her from comming them in the early days of the Empire; those very thoughts had caused her to put it off... and put it off...

Until now when she'd nearly forgotten them.

But maybe it _was_ safe now. She had a new comm, and it had been months since the attack on the Temple. The reports of Jedi arrests and executions had dwindled down and died out.

_So do you want to be next?_ A cautious voice whispered, but she pushed it away.

Besides, they were probably worried, right? She'd disconnected her old comm – maybe Owen and Beru thought her _dead_. The very thought twisted her stomach. Were they worried out of their minds right now, imagining the worst?

Without realizing it, her fingers reached back into her pocket. In a second, her comm-link was between her fingers, the metal cool on her palm. She could call them now, let them know she was all right...

Then what? Tell them she was heading back to the danger zone? "Oh yeah, it's been quiet for a while, so we're going to Coruscant today. You know, where Sidious and Vader, the Sith Lords, evil tyrants of the Galaxy, the people who want us dead, those guys, it's where they live."

No, Owen and Beru would worry or want her to stay where she was. Maybe they'd even say she should come back to Tattooine.

_Which,_ Acacia realized, _wouldn't be the worst thing in the Galaxy._

_Acacia?_ She heard Anakin's voice in her head and shoved her other thoughts to the back of her mind. She'd consider them some other time, when her brother wouldn't go snooping through her thoughts.

_Yeah? What is it?_

She sensed him blink, taken aback. After a second, the surprise flared into annoyance. _Don't be so snippy, Squirt._

_You're gonna tell me to _not_ be snippy, then use a nickname you know I hate?_

_Well, I could just call you "Snips," if you like._

Acacia rolled her eyes. _I_ wouldn't_ like._ She sighed, forcing her mental tone to sound less confrontational. _I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something. Something that was none of your business, so don't ask, _she added quickly._ What d'you need?_

She heard her brother hesitate, and knew he was thinking about asking anyway. In the end though, he just said, _We're leaving in a few. Are you almost ready?_

Outwardly, she sighed with relief. Inwardly, she only replied, _Nearly. I just gotta throw some stuff in my bag._

_You weren't packed already?_ he asked, and when she heard the joking disapproval in his tone, she knew her brother wouldn't press her – for now.

She sent a smile. _I learned about last-minute prep from the best_.

_Please. I was always_ packed _on time. It was other stuff I was late for._

_I don't remember it that way._

_Well, your memory's faulty._

_Uh-huh. _She shook her head and chuckled. _Well, get out of my faulty memory so I can finish this._

She sensed him raise an eyebrow. _Taking things you don't want me to see, are we?_

_Yes. My totally contraband_ underwear. _Now will you go away?_

He laughed, but after a moment, left her alone. Instead of packing, though, the girl looked down at the picture of her other brother, still clutched in her right hand.

Eventually, she sighed and stuffed the paper in her pocket. Now, what with Coruscant and senates and spies, she truly did have other, more important responsibilities.

_I'm sorry, Owen,_ she thought, as if he'd hear her the way Anakin could. _I'll just have to deal with you later._

* * *

As she sat in the cruiser, waiting for Padme to drop the twins off, Acacia spun in the co-pilot's chair, pausing when she sat opposite her brother. Instead of facing his in-laws, Anakin had stayed with her in the ship; but he was so fidgety, Acacia thought he should've gotten out, if only to stretch his legs before the long ride in hyperspace. His eyes kept darting from the window to the controls and back again, as if trying to signal Padme that time was a wastin'.

Acacia smirked. So he _was_ eager to get going.

_Restless, big brother? _she teased.

He rolled his eyes – and blocked his thoughts. "_No_." When Acacia arched her eyebrows, he grinned, slightly sheepish. "OK, yes, a little. And so are you."

She shrugged. "Hey, I never denied it. It's _you_ who likes to pretend you're cool with all this family stuff." _So cool you nearly fooled me._

"I _am_ cool with this 'family stuff.' But a little action never killed anybody."

Acacia scoffed. "Famous last words."

"Not particularly."

"They will be when they're yours."

"No, then they'll be _infamous_ last words."

Acacia laughed, but before she could form a witty reply, Padme returned. "Twins dropped off? Check," she sighed, falling into a third seat behind the siblings. "Let's pick up Dorme and Sabe, and get to Coruscant."

Anakin grinned, starting up the ship. "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

Once they got into hyperspace, things quieted down again. Now it was Acacia who couldn't stop twiddling her thumbs or fidgeting her legs or getting up and pacing, only to sit down again. They were _almost there._ Almost back in the game. And, while it did excite her, it also made her nervous.

And she had nothing to do with that extra energy, but jiggle her leg until it fell off.

Of course Dorme and Sabe had "retired" to the back rooms, and were probably sitting with their hands in their laps, staring demurely at a wall. Padme had gone to work on her speech the minute they were in the air, and Anakin had followed her soon after – so Acacia doubted Padme was still working on her speech.

That left her to stare at the controls, make sure a black hole didn't suck them up, and wait for the ship to come out of hyperspace.

Which it did. Slightly earlier than planned.

The whole ship jerked to port, so hard it threw Acacia out of her seat. Ignoring the throbbing in her left arm, she jumped back up and raced to the controls, just as Anakin ran in from the cabin area. "Acacia!" he yelled. "What happened?"

"I don't know! We just fell out of hyperspace!"

Her brother strode over, slid into the pilot seat, and began a maintenance check, muttering to himself as he did. "Check, check, and check... Oh crap."

Acacia realized it in the same moment. "A gravitational beam," she breathed, glancing out the window to see the generator hovering just to the port side. "We didn't _fall_ out of hyperspace; we were _pulled_." She glared at Anakin. "I thought you said an unconventional route would keep anyone from spotting us?"

"I said I _hoped_ an unconventional route would keep anyone from spotting us. Apparently, I was wrong," he added in a mutter. "Help me determine our position, Caish." He nodded to the co-pilot's seat. "Maybe we can make the jump before anyone attacks."

As she pulled up the nav-computer, Acacia's eyes kept straying to the ominously large spacecraft that had yanked them out of flight. "Do you think they're gonna shoot?" she asked, after a full minute passed and nothing had happened.

Anakin glanced up, and as he did, a battleship appeared from behind the generator, guns already pointed at their hull. "Yes, Acacia," Anakin said with a grim nod. "I think they're gonna shoot."

* * *

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	5. Chapter 4

**Heyo! Thanks for your reviews, favoriting, and subscribing!**

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Chapter 4

Knowing he had only seconds, Anakin leapt from his seat, quick as if a nipper had chewed through the hull, coming up to bite him in the backside. "Set up the shields," he told his sister. "And as soon as you have a free moment, get Padme from the back. She'll pilot while you and I return fire."

Acacia had jumped in the pilot's seat the minute her brother vacated it, and already she punched the buttons to lift the shields. She watched as the plasma rose – painfully slowly by her count. The battleship's guns were locked on them by now; she knew they'd start shooting any second... "Anakin!" she called, but he was already gone, racing for the weapons bay. _Ani, what about the nav-calculations? And getting the heck outta here?_

In her head, she caught sight of her brother dashing down a hall, staggering when the first bolts of fire slammed into their ship. _Hopefully, Padme'll figure that out, too._

Acacia drummed her fingers against the controls and took a breath, preparing for evasive action. _We're screwed, aren't we?_

_Eh. Maybe a little._

She grinned. _Well, as you used to say, this is where the fun begins._

* * *

Anakin concentrated on running, using the Force to keep his balance as the ship reeled and rocked. Even from deep inside the cruiser, he could feel it when the ion bolts hit something less durable than the plasma shielding, and he cursed every time the floor pitched beneath his feet. When the ship lurched again (from the fire or from Acacia's piloting, he wasn't sure), the lights flashed, his body slammed into a wall, and Anakin started to wonder if they were in deeper trouble than he'd realized.

Still, he didn't contact Acacia, didn't ask her what in the Galaxy was going on up there. It wouldn't help anything; she'd only get anxious – or angry – if she thought he was watching her every move.

Besides, his sister knew what she was doing. Most likely.

"R2!" he called, as he sprinted past the droid bay. "Get up to the cockpit and help with the nav-calcs. We need to get back to hyperspace _now_."

The droid whirred and beeped a "Yes, sir," then scurried off towards the cockpit.

A few harrowing seconds later, the Jedi hurtled into the weapons bay. He half-fell, half-jumped into the first chair, grasping the triggers before he was even seated. Force-lifting a pair of headphones and slapping them on his ears, Anakin used his hands to angle his guns toward the enemy ship. Perfect. He drummed his fingers against the triggers, flexing them once, twice, before he gripped the gun again, aimed, and fired.

* * *

Acacia didn't _really_ start to worry until the stupid enemy shot out their port defenses. Before that, frightening as the situation was, she could rely on the shields to protect them while she and Anakin battled the enemy ships, and Padme solved the problem of getting the Force out of there.

But, now that the port shields were out and the others beginning to fail, they went from deep poodoo (which they could deal with), to _really_ deep poodoo (which was much harder). And bantha fodder to boot.

"OK," she whispered to herself. "We've still got the starboard, the fore, and the aft. We can get out of this."

She even smiled slightly as she wrenched the controls around, yanking the port side away from the worst of the fire. She _had_ wanted some action after all.

_Though, this is kind of a lot after two months of nothing,_ she grumbled. _We could've started out a _little_ easier._

_Too much for you, sis?_

Acacia's smiled widened as her brother popped into her thoughts, and, from the window, she saw his blue fire streaking towards the battleship. _Take a hike, Ani,_ she replied. _I need to focus._

Anakin laughed, but did as she asked. He was only checking in, she knew, and he needed to concentrate as much as she did.

Just as she'd gotten the cruiser where she wanted it, Padme, Dorme, and Sabe came running into the cockpit. "Acacia!" Padme started, but her sentence trailed off as she glanced out the window, taking in the gravity generator, the battleship, and the ion bolts blazing in the starry space between the cruiser and its enemies. "What in the–"

"Glad you're here," Acacia interrupted. "Take the controls, will you, Padme? Anakin said for you to pilot and get a lock on our locale so we can make the jump back."

"But that's a gravity generator," Padme protested. "How are we going to get out of its field?"

"Dunno." Acacia shrugged. "Maybe we'll blow it to bits."

"Can you do that?" Sabe asked. "I thought it was especially difficult to disable a generator."

"It is," Acacia admitted. "They have really strong shielding and you have to hit the reactor core to blow them completely." She shrugged again. "I'm hoping Anakin has a plan for all that."

As Padme took the controls, Acacia heard her sister-in-law whisper, "You and me both."

* * *

_Caish?_

_In position, bro._

_Good._ Speaking into the headphone's mic, he called, "Padme?"

"Piloting," came her reply.

"Great." He shot off a round before continuing, "I felt the ship take some fire. Did they shoot anything important?"

A pause. "The port shields." _Sith._ "But nothing else, and I think I can keep that side away from the fire."

"All right," Anakin said, though he wished his wife sounded more certain. "Caish, aim for the battleship. Hit the underside if you can; I think the reactor's there, and that'll be quicker than taking out the shields."

"Got it. What about you?"

"Me?" Anakin grinned, swinging his guns into place. "I'm aiming for the generator now. When I knock that out, we'll be free of the gravity pull–"

"And we can make the jump to hyperspace," Acacia finished, grinning too, as she powered up her gun and fired on the battleship.

"Absolutely right, Caish. Padme, getting anywhere with those calculations?"

"Kinda... hard," she grunted, as the ship jerked to the side. "Sabe and Dorme are working on it. And," a happy chirping in Anakin's ears. "R2 got here a minute ago."

"Great, he can help them." With everything going as well as it could, Anakin fell silent, knowing the others could take care of their jobs while he concentrated on his.

Whoever was piloting the generator had skill. Like the cruiser, it was pretty bulky, but he (or she or it, whatever) had the typically strong shielding already in place. Anakin had blown a gap in the defenses just off the starboard side, but, everytime he got in position to finish it off, the pilot floated just out of the way while his gun recharged. By the time he fired, any damage Anakin inflicted would be less than superficial.

If Acacia weren't so busy shooting at the battleship, he knew he'd never hear the end of it.

And, of course, if they weren't _all_ so busy trying to not die.

A split second later, a volley of fire rocketed from the battleship, striking the cruiser just below the blasted shield generators. The ship shuddered, the lights flickered, and when they came back on, Anakin's ears rung. "Padme? Acacia?" he called, hoping the headphones still worked. "You there?"

"Yeah," their voices came back in unison, but they crackled, distorting like an old droid's sound synthesizer. Whether the headphones were the problem or his own hearing, Anakin couldn't tell. And, at the moment, he had more important things on his mind. "You OK?" he asked.

"A little shaken," Acacia quipped, and her brother half-smiled. "But yeah, I'm fine."

"Padme?"

"I'm all right," she said, though her voice disagreed with her words. "But... I think they may have shot something important."

And that's when the alarm began to ring.

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	6. Chapter 5

**Hey everybody! So last week, I had this chapter planned, written, and more-or-less on schedule when I realized I had a ginormous pothole. Literally. There was a hole. So then came the week of painful rewriting, which is why this chapter is so late. :p Sorry about that guys! Hope you enjoy anyway!**

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Chapter 5

The alarm pulsed through the ship, washing the corridors red, the blare so loud it blocked out the ringing in Anakin's ears. "Padme!" he yelled over the noise. "What was hit?"

"I'm not sure yet. Let me... Oh no."

"'Oh no?' What's 'oh no?'"

Before she could reply, an automated voice sounded through the cruiser, barely audible over the alarm. "Energy cell has been damaged. Ship will self-destruct in three minutes. Please head to the escape pods immediately. Energy cell has been damaged..."

The warning continued on a loop, and Anakin's own countdown began in his head: _3:00... 2:59..._

"Anakin?" His sister called his name, and the tremor of fear beneath her bravery pushed the Jedi into action.

"Caish, how many escape pods have we got?"

"Enough for everybody, but Anakin, it doesn't matter. With the generator out there, we can't get back into hyperspace. We'll just get captured or shot down the minute we fly out."

"So, tinkerboy," Padme's voice crackled through his headphones. "Looks like you're going to have to fix this."

Fix the energy cell of an airborne ship? _How_?

_2:36... 2:35..._

_No pressure, bro, b__ut we're kinda running out of time._

"Right." He jumped up, still clueless, and ripped off his headphones. The ringing disappeared immediately, so at least he wouldn't have to worry about his hearing.

All things considered, that wasn't much consolation. But every little thing helped.

As he sprinted out of the weapons bay, Anakin contacted his sister. _Caisha? I'm going down to the engine room._

_You think you can rig the cell?_

_Have to try, don't I? Ask Padme to send R2 down; she, Dorme, and Sabe need to put all their efforts into the nav-calcs._

_Got it. I'll tell her._

Anakin started to respond, but as he hit the engine room, he stopped short and his jaw dropped. Fist on the first set of doors, he stared out the window – and into space. The blast had torn a ragged hole in the side of the cruiser, and a surge of pure energy writhed and pulsed where the cell had once been.

_Anakin?_

_Just a second, Caish._ He swallowed, forcing himself to focus. No matter the mess, Anakin Skywalker had never been prone to panic, and now was totally not the time to become such.

_1:47... 1:46..._

Anakin opened his eyes. The emergency seal was around the hole, caulking it temporarily, and the cell was in its own compartment, connected to the ship by sealed cords, so that, if it was hit, they'd have time to reach the escape pods before everything went kablooey.

But escape pods weren't an option now, and they had less than two minutes before the big bang. _So how in the Galaxy do I fix this?_

_Use the Force?_

Anakin couldn't help but smile. In spite of the situation, Acacia – his baby sister – had made him _smile._

He wouldn't let her die because he couldn't fix a simple problem.

_Maybe not simple..._ a private thought piped up, but Anakin pushed it away.

_I'll try that, Caish,_ he replied as he tugged a helmet over his head and hopped into a spacesuit. _By the way, you need to switch targets._

_Uh... switch targets?_

_Yes. Acacia, you've got to shoot out the generator._

He could sense the fear rolling over her. _But Anakin–_

_Caish._ With half his brain, he kept his mental tone calm, while the other half ran through a million ideas and discarded them just as fast. _Caish, we need to get out of here now. We need to get out of here _yesterday._ Now listen to me._

A pause, then, _Okay._

_I made a hole in the shielding, just off the starboard side. If you can maneuver your guns right and shoot directly into it, I think you'll be able to blow the whole thing._

Split second before, _Got it._ Another pause. _May the Force be with you._

He smiled again. _You, too._

With that, he shut off their connection and opened the engine room's first set of doors, turning his full attention to the problem at hand.

* * *

Anakin had done a lot with ships in his life, everything from podracing for parts to careening through the cosmos with a-wing-and-a-half. But one thing he'd never gotten around to trying was fixing an overloading energy cell in mid-flight.

No time like the present give it a go.

Grimacing at the heat seeping through the spacesuit, Anakin opened the second door and waded in, pushing against the fierce power pounding him from every side. Even with the suit, Anakin couldn't get too close, not unless he wanted every atom in his being to shrivel up and burn to ashes.

Which was another thing he hadn't tried, and one he never intended to.

When he got near enough, Anakin called on the Force. It gathered, and his eyes zeroed in on the imploding cell. The enemy blast had been large, shooting right through the weak spot from the lack of port shields and crashing into the energy cell. Luckily, the blast had expended most of its power making the hole in the hull, but it'd still contained enough to fill the cell with more current than it could stand, resulting in a chain reaction that, as the computer system had so kindly informed them, would cause their ship to blow.

Now what could he _do_ about it?

"Doo-woop?" A beeping from behind told him that R2 had arrived, but Anakin held up a hand, warning the droid to stay back. He didn't know why he'd called him anyway. Before, he hadn't known the extent of the problem; he'd only hoped R2 would be able to help somehow.

But now, he wasn't sure anyone could.

"Doo-woop?" the droid repeated, and Anakin looked back at him, trying to ignore the countdown still running in the back of his head. _0:50... 0:49..._

He had to figure something out. Preferably that instant. If he didn't, everyone on the ship was dead.

_Padme... Caisha... R2..._ Even those handmaidens he'd sorta grown to like. Anakin had been in a shipload of perilous problems in his life, but this was one of the few where he'd actually felt death breathing down his neck.

_0:19... 0:18..._

Anakin shook his head. Couldn't let the stress divert his attention. Think, think, _think._

Wait... _Divert..._

"R2, you can go back up," he said, a grin growing on his face. "I think I know how to fix this."

* * *

Acacia didn't bother with deep breathing. Though Obi-Wan swore by it, it'd never helped her much; and anyway, Anakin always jumped into things head-first.

No way did he have time for calming breaths.

Instead, Acacia drummed her fingers on the guns, focusing in the Force on her opponent. She knew she didn't have long, so she searched the starboard side, homing in close, shutting out everything else... and there it was. The telltale shimmer of shielding, then a small circle of nothing.

Now all she had to do was aim, fire, and watch it blow to bits. Which was only slightly easier than beating a Wookie in an arm-wrestle.

_0:50... 0:49..._

The numbers counted down at the back of her head, in a voice too monotone for the situation. But she ignored the fear mounting inside her and forced herself to focus. Her brother was counting on her.

Heck, _she_ was counting on her. If she couldn't shoot out that generator, they were all quite finished.

Acacia thought back to before the blast hit their ship. In the seconds between her shots, she'd taken note of the pilot's movements versus her brother's. How Anakin would aim, charge, fire... and the generator would float just to the side of his shot before it got there.

The pilot had anticipated Anakin's moves, probably by the direction of his guns, and that would take someone seriously Force-Sensitive. Like Anakin or Obi-Wan.

_Or Vader._

She shuddered, but with fury rather than fear. Whether it was that son of a stoned dug or some other Force-Sensitive crony, it didn't matter. They were shooting at her ship, at her family. And that was not okay with her.

A crinkling in her pocket reminded her of the family she'd forgotten, but Acacia pushed them from her mind.

Owen would understand if, for the moment, she concentrated on staying alive.

_0:21... 0:20..._

Acacia closed her eyes, giving herself ten seconds only. In fast-motion, she replayed the scenes in her head, how the pilot had predicted Anakin's movements, how he had flown just to the side just in time. Then, since Anakin was too busy concentrating to notice, she watched it through her brother's memories. Acacia sped through most of it, but zoomed in whenever Anakin's shots neared the enemy ship.

_0:11... 0:10.._

When the seconds were up, Acacia grinned. She had what she needed.

* * *

_Use the Force, Anakin._

How many times had he heard that? For fighting, for flying, for focusing his mind. The Force could be ever so useful for ever so many things. Even Acacia had joked about it several seconds ago, because it was the Masters' favorite catchphrase for just about everything.

Yet no one had ever mentioned using it like this.

Anakin closed his eyes and reached into the Force. He felt the extra energy, the reaction reeling out of control, and he grasped at it, clenching his fist, seizing the current before it erupted.

But it burned, burned so hot, he almost let go. Nothing in the Force had ever burned him before – nothing, except the Dark Side.

_Maybe this isn't the best idea._ A cautious voice he wasn't supposed to have whispered.

But he was out of others.

_0:09... 0:08..._

And out of time.

Anakin gathered the extra energy in the Force, swirling it around till it was a roiling mass of pure power, bubbling and boiling at his fingertips. The Jedi closed his eyes, prayed his plan would work, and thrust his hands forward.

* * *

Acacia clenched the triggers in her fists, thumbs poised just above the buttons to release the deadly fire.

_0:07... 0:06..._

In the seconds between her fingers' touch of the buttons and their downward smash to discharge a volley, Acacia zeroed in on the generator, focusing her guns just to the right of the hole in the shielding. If she was correct, all the other pilot could see was her guns pointed _at_ the hole. With any luck, he wouldn't notice that the aim was slightly off.

_0:05... 0:04..._

Her gun took a second to charge. The pilot adjusted, his ship dancing just out of reach...

_0:03..._

Or so he thought.

_0:02..._

__Pew! Ka-BOCSH!__

Acacia grinned as the generator exploded. But, considering the countdown was still going and the alarm still shrieking, her joy didn't last.

_0:01..._

A ball of golden energy shot from the lower deck of the cruiser, bowling into the battleship and engulfing the enemy in flames.

"What the–" but the cruiser shuddered and shook, so hard she couldn't finish a coherent thought, much less a sentence. Seconds later, it stabilized, and once her brain stopped rattling in her skull and she realized _their_ ship was the only one not blown apart, she called for her brother. _Anakin?_

It took him a moment to reply. _Here._

_Are you okay?_

_Completely... fine. And I fixed the ship._

_Yeah, I figured._ The smile grew on her face again. _What did you _do_?_

"Tell you later," Anakin said, and she was surprised to actually hear his voice in her ears. "Everyone okay?" he asked.

"We're fine up here," Padme called back.

"Acacia?"

"Terrific."

She heard the grin in her brother's voice, but something felt off, almost forced when he replied, "Awesome. Great job with the generator, by the way. How'd you do it?"

"Tell you later." Though her worry for her brother increased by the second, Acacia forced herself to sound carefree. "Well, that was a fun delay," she quipped, and leftover nervousness created more laughter than the joke was worth. "I suppose we should get to Coruscant now."

"Yeah," Anakin agreed. "Padme, do we have a fix?"

"Almost... Yes! I've got it!"

Acacia heard her brother sigh. "I love you."

"Good." Padme laughed again. "Our anniversary is two weeks from today, and I expect something big."

Anakin chuckled. "I'll do my best."

A second later, "It's loaded into the nav-computer," Padme said. "We're ready to make the jump."

"Punch it."

As the blackness of space faded to blue and the stars turned to white streaks on her window, Acacia felt a prickle of unease. Sure, they'd won this time, but she knew the attacks would continue. The Sith wouldn't rest until she, her brother, and her sister-in-law were dead.

_Or until we kill them, _Anakin pointed out.

Acacia smiled dryly. _I gotta say, I like that one better.__  
_

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**Thanks for reading! Please review**


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Sorry this chapter's late! I've been sick and I had trouble working out some parts.**

**Just so you know, I edited last week's chapter a little bit. Nothing big, just some minor word changes here and there, if you want to check it out. But the main story is still the same, so if you read it before last Saturday (the sixth of September), you won't be confused about anything in here.**

**All right, let's get on with it...**

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Chapter 6

As the ship jumped to hyperspace, Anakin felt a surge of exhaustion crash over him. He'd barely staved off his weariness while trudging back to the weapons bay and dragging himself to a pair of headphones, but now that everyone was safe, he struggled to keep from passing out where he sat.

_Ani?_ Acacia's voice poked at his consciousness, worry prickling in her tone, and Anakin shook his head, pressing the heel of his hand between his eyes, forcing himself to stay awake.

_I'm fine, Caish. Really, _he said to her skepticism. _Just a little tired._

A sound from behind. Anakin spun around to see his sister standing in the doorway, rubbing absently at her left arm. "You look awful," she said aloud.

He forced a grin. "Thanks. You're beautiful, too."

A smile flickered across her face. "What did you _do_ anyway?"

"Doesn't matter." Anakin shook his head. "What happened to your arm?"

"Oh." Acacia looked down as if just now noticing it hurt. "I fell. When the ship first lurched out of hyperspace." She rolled up her sleeve, examining the bruise that blossomed on her bicep. "It's no big deal," she added, pushing the fabric back down. His sister didn't even wince, but Anakin wondered if she'd forced herself not to so he wouldn't worry.

"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked again.

He was about to reply, "Yeah, of course," but another wave of weariness washed away the lie, and it took all of Anakin's strength not to keel right over.

"Anakin!" His sister started forward, but he put up a hand.

"I'm okay. Just..." He shook his head, unable to finish a sentence when all his strength was fixed on staying awake. Somehow, he struggled to his feet and somehow, he made it to one of the bedrooms, forcing himself to walk without Acacia's help; if he was going to faint after a battle he hadn't so much as bruised in, the least he could do was walk himself to his bed.

"I'll just... take a little..."

But exhaustion claimed him, and he was asleep before he could finish.

* * *

Padme stared down at her husband, double lines forming between her eyes. "Is he okay?"

Acacia frowned as she studied Anakin's prone form, searching in the Force for his Mark. "I think so," she said. "Though whatever he did really tired him out."

"But that doesn't usually happen, right? Normally, he can use the Force with no problem."

"I wouldn't say no problem," Acacia muttered, remembering several problems from the past. "But without falling out like this, yes. Whatever Anakin did, it wasn't your average act of Force-Use."

A light snore from her brother seemed to show his agreement.

"Can you use your telepathy?" Padme wondered. "Look in his mind and see what happened?"

"I already did," Acacia replied. "But I still don't get it. There's just a bunch of weird flashes." She shook her head. "Hopefully, he'll explain it all when he wakes up."

"Milady?" Acacia turned. There Sabe stood, just inside the bedroom, and she noticed her eyes seemed a little red, as if the handmaiden had shed some tears. But, Acacia figured, that was likely a normal response to the day, especially if sudden extractions from hyperspace and violent near-death experiences weren't generally in your schedule.

Of course, seeing as half used to be in hers, Acacia had no intention of crying.

Padme looked up from her husband. "Yes?"

"You asked me to tell you when we came near Coruscant. We should arrive in a little less than an hour."

Padme nodded. "Thank you, Sabe." She forced a small smile in her handmaiden's direction, but the moment she left, Padme's eyes returned to Anakin.

"I really think he'll be okay, Padme," Acacia reassured. "He's getting stronger by the second. I can feel it."

"Well..." the senator whispered, tearing her eyes away. "If you're _sure_. I do have some speech notes to work on."

"Positive." Acacia nodded. Even though she wasn't. "You can go ahead."

Padme ran her fingers through her husband's hair, then leaned down to kiss him - at least, Acacia assumed she did. As soon as Padme's lips got within smooching distance, the girl became remarkably preoccupied with smearing ointment on her injured arm.

A few seconds later, Acacia heard the rustle of blankets as her sister-in-law straightened, the footsteps as she crossed the room, the sliding of the door as she exited, and the click as she closed it firmly behind her.

* * *

When he awoke, the first thing Anakin noticed was a pair of violet eyes staring over him. "Ani?" his sister whispered, "Anakin, you're awake!"

Rubbing his eyes, he replied, "Looks like it," then groaned. The second thing he noticed was that every atom in his being ached like he'd just lost a fight with an extremely perturbed wookie, but Acacia seemed mostly oblivious to his pain.

"Are you okay? Should I get Padme? Seriously, bro, what did you_ do _down there anyway?"

"Hold on a sec." Anakin sat up slowly, shaking his head to clear it. "Too many questions."

His sister sighed, and he could almost hear her rolling her eyes in impatience. "Fine. Are you all right?"

"Eh." He waved a hand. "Ask me later."

"Should I go get Padme?"

"Where is she?"

"In the other room. We're nearing Coruscant, and since I told her you'd be okay, she went to take a look at her speech notes."

Anakin nodded. "Don't bother her then."

"If you say so." A beat of a pause, then Acacia succumbed. "_Now_ will you tell me what you did?"

Anakin shook his head again. "I'd explain if I could, Caish, but I'm not sure _I_ even understand it. The whole thing was sort of... instinctual."

She crossed her arms. "Try."

He smirked. "Weren't you worried about me?"

"Very," she said and a frown flittered across her face, giving Anakin a twinge of guilt. "But now you're awake and you seem perfectly alive and perfectly functional, so talk."

"You're stubborn."

"Wow. Wonder where I learned _that_."

"All right, all right." Anakin relented. "So, I realized I couldn't possibly fix the reactor; it was too far out of control. But then I had this idea: maybe I could divert the extra energy and launch it into the battleship."

Acacia's eyebrows shot into her hairline. "That's _insane_."

"Yeah, I thought so, too. But I didn't have a choice at the time, so I went for it.

"Caish, I can't really explain _how_ I did it. I just grabbed on to the energy with the Force – like you might pick up your lightsaber or something – and pushed it out of the cell and into the battleship. Then I grabbed the emergency shielding the same way and pulled it back over the hole in our ship." He shrugged. "That's all."

Acacia's eyes were wide as the battleship's explosion. "Wow."

He smiled. "That's a word for it."

"I didn't... I didn't even know you could _do_ that."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't recommend trying except in very poor circumstances."

"Why?"

Anakin hesitated; then again, Acacia already knew how difficult it had been. He _had_ spent the last however-long knocked out asleep, after all. "It was exhausting, Caish." _And painful_, he added mentally, glad that they were speaking aloud and hoping she hadn't caught that. "Worse than the Realm even. I've never felt anything like it."

"Why do you think it was so hard?"

Anakin shook his head. "Honestly, I have no idea. Because I was harnessing pure energy, maybe? But still, I've never passed out like this after using the Force. Not ever."

Acacia nodded slowly, a thoughtful frown taking over her face. "Maybe we should talk to Obi-Wan and the Council about it."

"Maybe," Anakin said, not admitting that he wanted to keep this quiet for now. He'd rather do his own research and have a durasteel-solid reason for fainting before he broadcasted the event in front of the Council.

"But what about you?" he changed the subject before she could press him. "I wasn't the only one who saved the day this time."

Acacia dropped her gaze, but a proud smile lit up her face and sparked in her eyes. "Yeah, well, all I had to do was think, tinkerboy."

"Think?"

"Yes, _think_. I'm sure you've heard the term."

The siblings shared a laugh. "Somewhere, I think." Anakin joked. "It _does_ sound familiar."

Acacia rolled her eyes, but suppressed her laughter so she could explain. "Before the ship got hit, I was watching your fight with the generator in between my shots. When you asked me to hit it, I looked in your head – sorry, promise I only checked the relevant stuff – for everything _you_ saw."

"And?"

"_And_ the pilot was anticipating your shots from the direction of your guns."

"Well Caish, I caught that much."

"So," she went on, ignoring her brother, "all I had to do was change direction."

"I don't follow you."

"I didn't aim for the hole. I aimed just to the side of it. And–"

"And he flew right into your fire, didn't he?" Anakin grinned. "I gotta say, Caish, that was pretty smart."

Acacia flipped her hair, shooting her brother a cocky half-smile. "Thank you."

"This thinking," Anakin mused. "I might have to try it sometime. Although, to be fair, you couldn't have done it without the hole I blew in the shielding."

Acacia rolled her eyes. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, tinkerboy."

* * *

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	8. Chapter 7

**Hello, lovely people! Thanks so much for reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting! Makes my day!**

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Chapter 7

"So, how bad is it?"

Anakin glanced up at his wife, striding across the private platform. Wiping the grease from his hands, he gave her a wry smile. "How honestly should I answer that?"

Padme laughed. "As honestly as you can. You know I'm not attached like you are." She waved a hand at the Nabooian cruiser. "To me, it's just a ship."

Anakin shot her a withering look. "'_Just_ a ship?'" He shook his head. "_Really_, Padme."

"I'm a senator, not a mechanic," she replied. "So how bad?"

"Could be worse."

"That's not an answer."

Anakin chuckled. "Well, some of the wiring for the comms blew, shields need replacing, energy cell's burned out, and of course," He waved a hand at the cruiser, "there's that gaping hole in the side I somehow have to patch."

She frowned. "Can you take care of all that while we're here?"

He glanced at her. "And watch over you?"

"I don't need to be watched over."

"Right." Anakin grinned. "Administer excess protection than?"

Padme considered that, then nodded slowly, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips. For a second, her husband grinned back, but then it faltered and fell into a frown. "Well, to answer your question, no, I don't think I can. But I don't trust anyone else to do it either."

"Well... the ship has to be fixed, Anakin."

"I know."

"Maybe you could talk to the Council," she suggested. "They might know someone who can help."

"Maybe," Anakin said. "But I think I'll try to fix it myself first."

"Should I be worried?"

Anakin smirked and shrugged. "Possibly. That emergency shield I made worked pretty well, though."

"True." Padme chuckled, but her mirth died when she noticed the weariness hiding in her husband's laughing eyes. "Ani?" She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you're all right?" Earlier, he'd given her a brief explanation of what happened with the cell, but her senatorial instincts whispered that he hadn't told her everything.

"I'm fine, Padme," he said, but his smile seemed forced. "Honestly. Stop worrying."

"Right." A head of curly, dark hair poked out of the main hatch. "Stop worrying about her _one true love_. That'll happen."

Anakin glared at his sister. "Aren't you supposed to be _doing_ something, Squirt?"

In reply, Acacia crossed her eyes, stuck out her tongue, and ducked back inside.

Padme laughed. "What's she supposed to be doing?"

"Fixing the comms," Anakin said. "I showed her how, and I'm pretty sure she can manage without blowing the ship to bits." He paused, cocking his head to the left just a tad; Padme only noticed because she'd learned to look for it. "Then again..." he trailed off. "I'd better go and help her."

She nodded. "With the two of you at it, maybe you'll have that much finished before dark."

Her husband looked up at the evening sun, its rays slanting through the windows of the hangar. "Uh... yeah. Maybe." He scoffed a short chuckle. "I'll comm you when we're on our way back."

"Well," she smiled. "Don't stay out too late."

"Of course not." Anakin grinned. "Someone has to keep you company tonight."

Padme enjoyed her turn shooting her husband a withering look. "I've got a speech to work on, Ani. You'll have to keep yourself company.

"Honestly, though," she continued, her smile fading as she reached up to touch his face. "You should rest. You look exhausted."

Anakin took her hand in his and kissed her fingers. "I will. Tomorrow's an all-day meeting right?"

She nodded. "Yes."

His smile broke into a full-fledged grin. "I'll sleep during that."

In spite of herself, Padme laughed, shaking her head. "You are _impossible_."

He winked. "At your service."

* * *

"'Someone has to keep you company tonight?'"

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Shut it, Squirt. How are things comin' up here?"

She made a face, but answered the question. "I _thought_ I'd fixed it..."

"I hate it when you use the past tense that way."

"But then, well, um, something sparked... and exploded... and everything I thought I'd fixed died."

"Stars." Anakin sighed. "Let me see it."

His sister stepped back. "I'm sorry, Ani. I told you I'm no good with this fixing stuff."

"You're fine, Caish," he grunted, as he sparked two wires and fused them together. "I'm just better."

She rolled her eyes. "And a lot less humble."

After they'd finished laughing, Anakin handed the wires back to Acacia, reviewing the directions one more time before he went to examine the energy cell. Together, the siblings worked in silence, broken only when Acacia used telepathy to stay in tune with her brother's instructions.

By the time the Coruscant sun had set and the automatic lights flashed on in the hanger, the siblings were sitting back on the durasteel floor, taking a rest to survey their handiwork.

"Not bad," Anakin said. "We got the wiring fixed, and I can definitely salvage the cell."

"Yeah." Acacia nodded, taking a swig from her water bottle. "But do you think we'll be able to finish it? Along with everything else?"

Anakin paused, even though he immediately knew the answer to her question. "Probably not."

"But," Acacia frowned. "Can we _trust_ anybody else?"

Her brother barked a short, humorless laugh. "No, not really." He sighed, rubbing a hand over exhausted eyes. "But we don't have much of a choice."

"Maybe... maybe you could talk to Dex."

"Hm." Anakin said, his frown turning more thoughtful as he sipped his own water. "Not a bad idea, Caish. He might know someone."

"Or know someone who knows someone."

Anakin smiled, allowing a tiny chuckle. "Something like that."

"Speaking of the other thing..."

"We were speaking of other things?"

"About trusting people," Acacia explained. "We're... well, we're going to the Senate tomorrow. With Vader. And Sidious. And probably whatever 'veiled woman' Choler was talking about."

Anakin nodded, scowling at the ship as if it were the cause of his problems. "I know."

"Well... do you know what we're gonna do?"

"We're gonna keep a close eye out," he said slowly, working out the answer as it spilled from his mouth. "Unfortunately, there will be no sleeping at this meeting or studying of interesting political tactics."

"There are interesting political tactics?"

Anakin laughed, ruffling Acacia's hair and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "That's my girl."

A smile danced across her face, but then disappeared. "So, we'll basically just... watch everyone?"

"I wish there was more I could tell you, Caish." Anakin glared down at his grease-stained hand. "Stars and systems, I wish there was more. But I've only got one other idea, and Padme said a lot of people wouldn't like it if we charged into the Imperial building and took care of Sidious and Vader ourselves."

"Yeah, I don't think the Imperials would be cool with that." Acacia laughed. "But look on the bright side."

Her brother raised his eyebrows. "There's a bright side?"

"Well, sort of. Whoever organized the attack helped us narrow down the list. I mean, we took the outside route specifically to _avoid_ a battle. Yet we had one anyway."

Anakin exhaled, blowing a fierce breath out through his mouth. "I know."

Acacia was quiet a moment, but finally, she had to ask, "Does Padme?"

"I haven't talked to her about it yet," Anakin admitted. "But I'm sure she can see it. I mean, it's obvious. Only someone she trusts would have that information."

"So it's official. Our veiled woman isn't just someone from Naboo. One of Padme's closest friends is reporting to Sidious."

"Unfortunately, Caish." Her brother scowled straight ahead. "Looks like Padme has a spy in her circle."

* * *

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	9. Chapter 8

**Sorry I didn't post last week! Needed some time to pull this story together.**

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Chapter 8

After returning home from the hanger, Anakin strode down the hall of the Coruscant house, entering his bedroom just as a little blue astromech exited. "Thanks R2," he heard his wife call from inside; but what would Padme need R2 for?

A split second later, _Aw, brilliant._

The Jedi stepped all the way in the room then, and when his wife looked up and saw him, her eyes lit up and she smiled.

Anakin grinned back. But _his_ eyes were on the comm device in her hand.

"Hey," he said, kissing her hello. "You making a call?"

"Receiving one, actually," she replied, settling back onto the bed. "But I was expecting it, so I had R2 scramble any tracers and encrypt the line."

Anakin smirked. "You're becoming such a rebel," he said. "I couldn't be more proud."

His wife just rolled her eyes, so he continued, "Who's contacting you, anyway?"

The laughter vanished from Padme's expression, a steely determination taking over her face, and Anakin sensed her reply before she made it. "Bail Organa."

The laughter vanished from Anakin's expression too, but he only had a frown to replace it. "Another delegation thing?"

"Yes," she said. "And I am _going_."

Her husband forced a rueful smile. "Don't suppose I could argue you out of it?"

Padme let out a short laugh and shook her head. "Not a chance."

"Fine." Anakin nodded, turning away and slipping off his cloak, like her apparent need to perpetually be in some perilous situation was no big deal. "Then I'm going with you."

Padme frowned. "Anakin, they really don't want anyone else at these meetings."

"I really don't want you going there." He shrugged. "Looks like we're all going to have a disappointing day."

"Ani, _no_."

He spun back to face her. "Why not?"

"Because–"

"Look, they're at least allowing you a guard or something, right?"

"Yes, but–"

"Well, there you go then."

"Stop interrupting me," she snapped, and the look on her face plus the tone of her voice made Anakin bite his tongue nice and fast. When she was sure he'd keep quiet, Padme went on, "Honey, we both know you're not the same as an average guard. You're a Jedi, you're more dangerous, and, well, some of them don't completely trust you."

Anakin's jaw dropped. "Don't _completely_–"

"I know it's crazy." She put up her hands, warding off that particular argument. "But some of the Delegation... they just aren't comfortable with a Jedi being there. So I'll take Dorme," Padme finished, even though her husband was shaking his head. "Or Sabe. They're both trained."

"Yeah, in etiquette."

Padme frowned. "That's not _all_, Ani. You know they're trained to protect me if they have to."

"Yes..." He sighed. "But still, I'd feel better if you took – I don't know – Acacia, maybe."

"Ani." Padme shook her head. "She's a Jedi, too."

"She's a padawan. It's different."

"Wow, bro. Thanks a lot."

Anakin's head whirled around and his eyes found Acacia standing in the doorway. Inwardly, he cursed. Those words shouldn't have come out the way they did, but he'd been too busy arguing to think them through or to notice her approach.

"Caisha," he said, stepping towards her. "I didn't mean anything by that."

"Well, gee." She rolled her eyes. "Remind me to _not_ be around when you do."

_Crap._ "I'm sorry, Caish. You're good, really. One of the best, to tell the truth, and I wouldn't trust Padme with anyone else. Well, not like I trust you, anyway. But the Delegation will accept a padawan more willingly than–"

"A real Jedi?"

"A _Knight_." He corrected. "Besides, you're one of her handmaidens-in-training or whatever, right?" When Padme nodded, her husband shrugged. "Seems to work."

Even though Anakin sounded confident in his plan, nobody in the room seemed to share his enthusiasm: Padme was frowning at the bed, Acacia was glowering at the ground, and Anakin himself was scowling at a spot on the wall that looked a bit like Bail Organa's beard.

"It probably _will_ work," Padme admitted, after several minutes of the stifling tension. "They won't know exactly who my guard is anyway – it isn't like we have to announce them when we enter. But if any of the Delegation happened to see a tall, cloaked man skulking in the shadows... well, they all know my affiliations with the Jedi."

"But me they won't suspect."

Still frowning, Anakin met his sister's eyes. "Caish, I'm not totally thrilled with this either. But I'd rather Padme have some real protection, and you're our best option."

Acacia stared at him for a moment, still glaring, but eventually, her slashed eyebrows relaxed and she nodded. "Fine. I'll do it. For you, Ani, and for Padme, I won't be a real Jedi tomorrow."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry this one's so short, guys, but this felt like a good ending point. Also, my mother is going to have surgery next week and her recovery period is gonna be pretty long. Which means I'll be helping a lot around my house and my posting may be a bit erratic until the holiday season. I will do my best to continue Sweat of the Battle in a timely manner, but if I don't post, that's why.**

**Again, I apologize that this story is moving slower than the others, but I want to devote all the necessary time to making it the best that I can.**

**As always, thanks for reading and please review!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Sorry this chapter took so long! Life's been hectic, and I've been too exhausted/lazy to get to this. For that, I apologize profusely, dearest readers, and thank you for sticking with me and this story as long as you have! Now without further ado, the long-awaited...**

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Chapter 9

The cool early-morning wind slapped Acacia in the face as she and Padme zoomed over the buildings of Coruscant. Though some might call it reckless, she kept her hood back as she flew, relishing the icy feeling as it stung against her skin – even though the sting reminded her of what she felt the night before, when Anakin implied that she was not a real Jedi.

Well, he hadn't _meant_ to imply that exactly. Acacia knew her brother thought her more a Jedi than most of the remnant, and not even because he'd spent the entire morning trying to explain and apologize. She'd forced a smile, claimed she'd understood, reassured him with, "Of course I forgive you.

But still, his comment made her prickle. Still, it made her heart burn. Still, it made her wonder, wonder the way she had since she found the photo of Owen. The holo-pic she still held, tucked in the pocket of her robes.

Being more of a farm-boy homebody, her other brother had never been much for her dreams of a Jedi life. But at least he'd never made her feel... feel _less_ for them.

In that moment, Acacia missed Owen so strongly that if she hadn't been busy piloting the speeder, she might've pulled out her comm and called him up right then and there. So perhaps it was a good thing she was preoccupied.

Perhaps it wasn't.

"Acacia?" Padme asked, as they entered the lower levels. "Are you all right?"

The girl nodded stiffly – though she knew the lie was obvious. "I'm fine."

"What Anakin said last night, you know he didn't mean it. He thinks you're amazing."

Acacia nodded again, same way as before. "I know."

Out of the corner of her eye, the girl saw the senator open her mouth to continue – so Acacia spoke first. "Why are we headed to the lower levels anyway?" she blurted out the first query that came to mind. "Isn't that too – I don't know – _un_classy for Senate reps?"

Padme frowned slightly, but answered the question anyway. "Normally, it would be. But we're running out of options."

Acacia raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"We rebels have to meet in secret. Especially now with the Emperor's newest law."

Acacia rolled her eyes. "I missed that one. What did our magnificent tyrant illegalize now?"

"Exactly what we're going to: unapproved meetings of Imperial Senate representatives."

Acacia's jaw dropped. "_What_? But... but why would they _allow_ that? Can't anyone see he's stealing their freedoms?"

"Yes." Padme nodded. "I think most of them can. But we were at war a long time, Acacia. People are desperate for the peace that he promises. And, at the moment, they don't see banned meetings as a significant cost, particularly since the representatives _can_ still meet, provided the Emperor and his 'committee' approves."

Acacia grunted. "Kinda messes up the whole secret thing, though."

Without a mite of happiness in her voice, her sister-in-law laughed. "I think that's the point."

Acacia tapped her fingers against the controls, frowns forming on her lips and forehead, the dormant fury in her eyes reminding Padme very much of Anakin. "You know, Padme," the girl said finally. "I was on the front lines for three years, the_ entire freaking_ war. I know_ exactly_ how awful it was, but you don't see me running to sell out to Sidious and his cronies."

"Yes. But many of the citizens and several representatives saw a different, just as difficult side of the war. And they're too terrified of going back to make a move in the right direction."

"Then, no offense, Padme, but what's the point of all this?"

"All what?"

"All your meetings and Senate stuff. If everyone's too scared to stand with you, what are you_ doing_ this for?"

"Several reasons," Padme replied. "To show people that there_ is_ a cost to this kind of peace, and it's pretty steep. To challenge the Emperor, slow him down and give the others a chance to _think_ about their choices. Essentially, we in the Senate resist to give the people hope and strength, so that eventually, they'll come alongside us and do it for themselves."

Slowly, Acacia nodded, and the frown between her eyebrows lessened, though the one on her lips remained. "How long do you think that'll take?" she wondered.

Padme shrugged. "As long as it does."

* * *

Watching from the doorway as Acacia and Padme disappeared into the still-dark sky, Anakin tried to ignore the fear curling like a sarlacc in his stomach. His sister and his wife, two of the people he loved most, flying off to some secret Senate meeting somewhere in the crime-steeped lower levels. An illegal meeting to boot, one that, if they were caught in, they'd likely be killed without hesitation.

And somehow, someway he wasn't supposed to worry. As if.

"M'lord?" Sabe said, approaching him. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Anakin forced a smile at the handmaiden. "Thanks but no thanks, Sabe. Actually, I need to make a comm. See you in a bit."

Once Anakin had locked himself in his room, he pulled out his comm – concentrating on the encryption code so he could stop worrying for at least ten seconds – and placed a call to Dexter Jettster's lower level diner.

As a friend of Obi-Wan's, old Dex had immediately joined the Jedi's cause, going so far as to set up an off-grid line which only select members of the resistance had the code for. Anakin had been one of the first to receive it, but he called only when necessary.

Dex picked up after a single ring. "Who's this?"

"Anakin."

"Oh-ho, Skywalker!" Dex yelled, and Anakin hoped that, wherever Dex had set up his line, it was somewhere soundproofed. "Haven't heard from you in a while. How'd my other tip work out?"

"Great, thanks. In fact–"

"Need some more help, do you? No one ever calls old Dex unless they want something." Then he roared with laughter. "Of course I don't mind. Whatcha need this time?"

"A mechanic I can trust. And next time, Dex," Anakin grinned. "I promise, I'll call just to say hello."

"Nice as that would be, little Ani, we gotta keep this line free for important calls. But after we've kicked the Emperor from here to the other side of the Force, you had better stop by just for a cup of muja juice and a nerfburger."

"You bet."

"Now about this mechanic," Dex mused. "Aren't too many around here, t'be honest. Ships're an important part of smuggling, you know, and our illustrious Emperor has been cracking down on that sorta thing. Too many extra eyes around most places, if you know what I mean."

Anakin nodded.

"But still... I might know someone. An old friend of mine, used to work with the hottest line of Coruscanti Cruisers."

"Used to?" Anakin said. "Is he a rebel?"

"I wouldn't say he's a _rebel_ strictly, but he's something like, and he's trustable, for sure."

Anakin nodded slowly. "Not that I don't trust you, Dex–"

"But you'd like to meet him first?" Dex chuckled. "I understand. Fact is, though, you already know him.

Anakin's eyebrows shot up. "I do?"

"Yup. And he's sitting right here."

He'd thought he was over it, but when the familiar face appeared in the hologram, the old animosity boiled up again, and Anakin could barely suppress the anger as he came face to face with the rival of his Temple days.

Ferus Olin.

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	11. Chapter 10

**Hay-o people! Thanks so much for your support!**

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Chapter 10

Though several years older, Ferus' face seemed as calm and collected as ever, and Anakin felt a surprisingly strong urge to punch it. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at things), his face was only a hologram.

"Ferus." Anakin forced a smile. "What a... surprise." He'd meant to add "pleasant," but couldn't manage to lie that way. "I didn't know you knew anything about ships."

"I didn't," Ferus admitted. "At least, not when I left the Order. But Siri introduced me to Dex several years ago, so when I left, I came to him. He used his various contacts, 'pulled some strings,' as they say, to provide me with a job repairing Cruisers. I found I enjoyed the work." The other man shrugged, like that was all there was to it.

Anakin nodded slowly – hardly in reply to anything Ferus said, but more to convince himself that _was_ all there was to it. All there was to _them._ They were adults now, not angry, arrogant children. Their past was irrelevant.

Though it took some effort, Anakin shoved the old ire away, forcing it down before the lurking Dark sprung up again. If Ferus was the only mechanic available, then so be it. Anakin didn't have the luxury of being choosy.

But if he could find a solid _reason_ to not have to work with him...

"Have you ever seen a Nabooian model?" Anakin asked. "How long did you work there anyway?"

"Yes, many times," Ferus replied. "And about four years. Until I received word of Order 66 and terminated my employment." Force, why couldn't he just say '_quit_'? "After that," Ferus nodded towards Dex, "I came here again."

"Like I said," Dex chuckled, "no one comes to me unless they need somethin'. But good old Ferus is boreder than a Tusken that ain't murdered in a month." Anakin winced at the visual – then frowned when he noticed that Ferus had noticed. "I'm sure he'd be happy to help," Dex continued, oblivious to it all.

"Of course." Ferus nodded. "I told you before, Anakin, that I would always be willing to help any Jedi in need, you included."

Anakin forced himself to smile again, even though the tightness of the movement made his face hurt. "Thanks, Ferus," he said. "That... that means a lot."

_Like a promise from Palpatine does._ But Anakin knew he was out of options. If Ferus could repair the ship, Anakin would endure his presence.

And the humiliation of coming to Ferus for a fixing.

* * *

When they arrived at the designated meeting place, Acacia's eyebrows shot up so high, only her dark-red hood kept them from flying off her face. Talk about _un_classy. The sad excuse for shaak shed should've been condemned years ago; the roof looked only seconds from falling in, the walls looked only seconds from falling down, and nearly every board that once covered the glass-less windows had already fallen off. Acacia shook her head. The fact that the shed still stood was just plain contrary.

The girl gave her sister-in-law a look, but Padme only shrugged and strode inside, like she was headed to the queen's palace or something. As her acting bodyguard, Acacia could do nothing but follow, warily eye the building's remains, and hope that, for the one-room shack, it would be the inside that counted.

If so, the "building" was 0 for two, and Acacia knew the senators knew it. It was almost funny, watching them jump at every tiny scuffle (probably mice, possibly death worms), seeing their eyes dart about, taking in the ruin, the sparse furnishings, the constant flicker of the lights. At least ten balanced on the balls of their feet, ready to jump up and sprint out if the building finally gave up the ghost, and a few even had their sleeves over their noses, like the mold on the ceiling was poisonous.

Which it wasn't. Most likely.

Beneath her Senate-issue cloak, Acacia glanced over at Padme again. Not that she _wanted_ to dis the Senate's resistance, but at the moment, they were looking pretty pitiful.

Padme, however, was among the few who ignored the state of their meeting place. She walked forward, carefully took her place on an orange sofa beside Bail, and greeted her colleagues like this was any old Senate meeting.

Despite the turmoil in her own heart, Acacia felt a puff of pride as she watched the others follow Padme's lead. _That's _my_ sister-in-law, _she thought.

But no one else was supposed to know that, so Acacia slid backwards, silently taking her place at the end of the room with the other guards. Beneath her hood, she eyed the men and women beside her. Most wore helmets and armor; others, like her, were cowled in their planetary colors; a few bravely bared their faces, as if they had nothing to hide.

Acacia figured that was probably a lie.

Her gaze moved to the "important" people at the meeting. She recognized Mon Mothma and Bail, but none of the others. How many of them did Padme recognize? How many had known she was coming? Padme wouldn't have told anyone their route – she was way too smart for that – but still, might one of these be in league with their spy?

It all boiled down to two basic questions: How much did Padme trust these people? And was it more than she should?

Then again, if they all trusted each other so thoroughly, there probably wouldn't be so many masked guards.

The meeting began, but Acacia listened with only one ear, the other trained on her surroundings, scouting out possible problems before they became serious. With her right ear, she heard the bustle of the Lower Levels waking: the night-lifers scurrying home, greasy shops preparing to open, the occasional bellow of coarse slang shouting through the thin wooden walls. With her left ear, she caught discussions of "special academies" and "enhanced clone troopers," and for once, it seemed every senator present agreed: all were loudly against the creation of either.

"We don't need our children brainwashed," grumbled a wrinkled human male, whom Acacia thought "grandchildren" was more accurate for.

"And we don't need more of those clone enforcers either," an orange-skinned humanoid added.

"Padme, you should speak," Mon Mothma said. "You have a talent for turning others to your point of view"

But she shook her head. "I don't think it would be wise, at least not now. I've opposed Palpatine's plans since before his 'Empire,' and my return to the Senate will cause enough press as it is."

"Oh yes," Bail agreed with a wry smile. "Just wait till _Coruscant Daily_ hears about it."

"Precisely." Padme nodded. "I'll stay quiet for the time being, slowly make my return."

"Sneak up on them." Mon's lips twitched into a smile. "I must admit it is a wise plan. But then who will speak in your place?"

"Bail could," Padme said. "Or you."

From there, the reps dived into a detailed discussion of who should speak, who could speak, and why. Acacia ignored them, her eyes averting to the window as a tingle of warning tripped up her spine. She frowned; they'd been here for almost half an hour, and if Padme still planned to be at the real meeting on time, they had to leave within the next few minutes. But one look at her and the other reps, and Acacia got the feeling they were all just gonna be late.

The prickle of warning pulsed again, and this time, the clack of army boots sounded with it. Abandoning protocol, Acacia jogged over and peeked out the window, hoping her eyes would tell her her emotions had thrown her senses all out of whack.

On the bright side, her senses were thoroughly intact.

On the dark side, a group of clone troopers were sprinting up the street, guns poised at the old shack.

* * *

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	12. Chapter 11

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* * *

Chapter 11

Obviously, this hurried the decision-making of the senators'. In fact, once most of them realized they were being attacked, they abandoned their discussion entirely.

For half a second, Acacia froze. She'd never dealt with something like this, never battled on her own. She'd always had Obi-Wan, Anakin, Kady,_ any_ Jedi there to help her. But this time, she had no one.

_Wait, _Anakin_!_ she realized with relief. They were on the same planet again, a five-second call, and...

And _what_? Anakin was too far away to help. Even if she called him that instant, it would take him hours to reach this section of the Lower Levels, and by then, the battle would be either won or lost. For better or for worse, the battle began now, and she was the only true warrior available.

Acacia was on her own.

_Force,_ she thought, watching in slow motion as the senators shrieked and jumped to their feet. _What am I gonna do?_

_Isn't it obvious?_ a voice – not Anakin's, but not quite her own – tingled in the back of her mind. _You're going to be a Jedi._

Her lightsaber slipped in her hand, almost of its own accord, and a split second later, she ignited it. The glowing blue lit up the room, shining in the sudden darkness as the lights blinked out and everyone turned to look at her.

She almost froze again – what did she think she was doing anyway? She was twelve, for Force's sake. A _child_. She ought to wait the clones out, try and call Anakin anyway–

_Take Acacia. She's not a real Jedi._

Her face steeled as the lights returned, and all the reps stared at her in shock. Jedi or not, worthy or not, her brother had sent her to protect his wife. And protect her, she would.

"Everybody, remain calm," the girl thundered in a voice not quite her own, yet more hers than any other. "No one is dying today."

For the sole purpose of showing off, Acacia gathered the Force and vaulted from her spot near the window, landing smack in the middle of the senators without even singing a hair with her lightsaber. For a second, they all gawked, and the clamor of boots grew louder in the quiet. The clones were barely a minute away.

One of the reps on her right – the grandfatherly character who'd decried the brainwashed children – stammered out, "You're a... you're a _Jedi_."

She fixed the man with sparking violet eyes, firming her resolve before she broke. "You'd better believe it."

* * *

Acacia turned away from him, snapping into battle mode, recalling her Commander days in the Clone Wars. "All right, all bodyguards with me," she said. "We'll head out first, create a barrier around the senators, and fight our way to the ships."

Silence. No one moved a muscle. And Acacia realized what they must've seen: an outlaw, worse than that, a _child_ playing at command. Her face burned, but she forced the blood back down.

"Wouldn't it be better," asked a dark-skinned man with strangely pale eyes, "to sneak the senators out the back way?"

Looking in those cool, gray eyes reminded her of Darred, and fury boiled her blood, churning up images of–

_Stop._ she warned herself. Anger, revenge, they were not the Jedi way.

Instead, she nodded slowly, like she was considering the idea. "Well, yeah, we could do that. But the clones are pretty close now; they'd probably notice a bunch of people running out the back way. And our backs would be to them, so, you know, better targets. But if you wanna give it a go, by all means, _get shot_."

She spat out the last two words, fury fueling them no matter how hard she tried to suppress it. The bodyguard blinked at the venom in her voice, but his mouth stayed shut, and no one else complained.

_Good,_ Acacia thought. They had no time for that.

Padme smiled, nodded, and broke the silence with, "You heard her, my friends." She calmly drew a gun out of her robes. "The Emperor wants to attack us. Well, then, let us defend ourselves."

Acacia grinned back, then faced forward, holding her lightsaber aloft as the senators withdrew and the bodyguards gathered at her sides, weapons at the ready to follow her command.

_Perfect timing,_ the Jedi thought, as the clones poured through the door.

* * *

As the enemy advanced, those around her pressed closer, joining together, making a single effort. The Force flowed through her, smoothing out her movements, tuning her soul to each and every one. This was her army and this was their battle.

This was war.

When the clones first surged in, they bottlenecked, only a few able to enter at a time. Still, those who did get in, always managed to shoot off several rounds before one of the bodyguards, Padme, or another weapon-toting senator shot them down.

This in mind, Acacia focused on deflecting the bolts before they got to close. Surrounded by a blur of blazing fire, she stepped forward; calling on the Force, she used every drop of concentration she could muster to keep the bolts from reaching her comrades. She knew it was next to impossible to survive a battle without losing someone, but she intended to give it her best shot.

Sweat beading on her forehead, she pushed herself farther, drawing on the Force like she never had before, using every emotion that coursed through her heart – honor, love, even anger – to focus her mind. She saw the bolts flying towards them, swirling through the air at the speed of light; following her instincts, she spun and blocked, whirled and sliced, deflecting every single shot.

When the barrage finally ended, it took her a moment to realize that not a single clone in the room still stood.

Guilt rose in her throat as she remembered the allies, the comrades she relied on for three years during the War. Then she shoved the feeling away. She had no time for emotions.

_Deal first. Cry later._

"Are they gone?" a voice behind her whimpered. "Is it safe?"

Before Acacia could answer, Padme stepped up to her. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Acacia paused, taking a brief mental stock, before she finally nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Is everyone else okay?" she asked, turning towards her army.

Slowly, everyone nodded. Not a single life lost, not a single soldier fallen. Acacia grinned. Amazing.

"I hate to break up the celebration," the gray-eyed guard said, "but, Jedi, there's something you should see."

Acacia took it as a compliment that he'd called her specifically. But all her good feelings took wing and flew off when she saw what he'd wanted her to see.

They were surrounded.

Admittedly, there were a lot less clones than before, but that didn't change the fact that they were indeed_ there_, camped out around the building, fully and annoyingly prepared to wait the rebels out.

"We're doomed," one of the senators moaned and Acacia resisted the urge to march over, figure out who said that, and slap him in the face. That kind of attitude was _so_ not helpful.

"So," the gray-eyed guard continued. "What are we going to do?" His voice was calm, his face open, almost as if he deferred to her. But Acacia saw the cool gleam in his eyes. She could tell, Mr. Wise-Guy thought he already knew what to do, and he was waiting for her to make a fool of herself before he showed his cards.

So she didn't show hers. "I'm not sure yet," Acacia admitted. "What'd you have in mind?"

He blinked, surprise scampering across his face, before the mask slid down again. "We could sneak the senators out the back." He paused. "Like I suggested in the first place."

Acacia nodded slowly. "We could try that, Mr..."

"Stiffneck."

"Stiffneck." She resisted the urge to laugh. "Well, Mr. Stiffneck, you do know what the word surrounded means?"

He frowned. "Yes, of course"

"Then apply the meaning of the word to our situation and think about how well your plan will work out."

He narrowed his eyes, his frown shifting into a scowl, but she ignored him, stalking away so she could think.

_Maybe she should call Anakin now._ But what could her brother _do_? It would take him hours to get down here and who knew, the clones might've knocked the house down and killed them all by then. Knowing Anakin, if he knew she was in danger, he might even freak out, do something dumb, and get himself killed.

Could she call the Council?_ Hmm, maybe._ But even if she got through, they'd take forever to decide how to send aid; and even if they did it quickly, the Council was two levels down and on the opposite side. They, too, would take hours to reach her.

_We've already been over this, _she chided herself. _You're on your own._

"I think we should attack them," Mon Mothma's bodyguard announced. When everyone turned to stare at him, he shrugged, "Hey, we've got the element of surprise on our side, and that might be enough. I mean, we can't just sit here waiting to die, or calling for help that won't get here in time.

"Besides all that, you senators have to get to that meeting today." His fists clenched, and Acacia felt emotions darken. "We can't let that son of a sarlacc Emperor think he's won."

"If we die out there," Stiffneck replied cooly, "he really _will_ have won."

"What?" the other guard smirked. "You scared, Marcus?"

"Fear has nothing to do with my decision," he replied. "Only obvious logic, which you clearly do not understand."

"Did you just call me stupid?"

"Both of you stop," Padme intoned, as if she were speaking to children. Her attention moved to Acacia. "Any ideas?"

The girl opened her mouth, then closed it. What could she say? _"I've got no clue what to do, so we're probably all gonna die"?_

No. She had decided to lead, so lead she would.

But what could they do? They couldn't count on outside aid, so she had to use whatever was right there, right now. Whatever might give them an advantage, anything they could use against the clones.

_Focus on your surroundings._ Obi-Wan's voice whispered from a million training sessions. _There is always an available assist._

What was surrounding her? Other than an army of clone troopers.

She glanced around the room. A few well-trained bodyguards, several useless, old senators, and three reps with enough sense to carry a gun. Oh yes, and the thousand-year-old shack that should've toppled over a century ago.

_Use your surroundings._

_Use the shack._

She had no idea where the whisper came from, but once she heard it, she grinned. "Yes, actually," she said to Padme. "I believe I've got one."

* * *

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	13. Chapter 12

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Chapter 12

Acacia stood at the door, beside her, half the bodyguards, Padme, and two other senators who could fire a blaster. The Jedi closed her eyes, visualizing the empty buildings her team would run for. She scouted out their path, fixed a goal in her mind.

_Focus._

The violet eyes snapped open. She had it.

Acacia glanced over her shoulder, nodding once at Mr. Stiffneck. She'd stationed him at the back door with the second group of bodyguards and the senators who were more likely to wet themselves than be of any help. When he nodded back, she turned her gaze forward again.

Time to go.

"Isn't this the part where we scream a battle cry?" one of her senators asked.

Acacia resisted the urge to roll her eyes – then gave in mightily. "Before a surprise attack?" she hissed. "Force, no. After we_win_, feel free to scream your lungs out."

The man nodded, and the earnest look in his eyes made Acacia want to send him back to the other group. But she couldn't change course now.

Instead, she nodded to Lock Keran, Mon Mothma's bodyguard. "Go."

Keran shot out his foot, kicking the door right off its hinges. The slab of wood took flight and spun through the air, straight at the army of the clones.

Gritting her teeth, Acacia shot forward, remembering her own warning from moments before. _This is the riskiest part. We'll bottleneck just like they did, so we'll have to be quick and use the door's cover. Run like your life depends on it._

By the time the wood plank sailed through the air and smacked the clone commander in the head, her entire squad was out of the shack and shooting. They'd made it through the first phase unscathed. So far, so good.

_Don't tally your winnings yet._

She pushed off the other thoughts, calling on the Force again, surrounding herself with its power. Rather than fight, she, Keran, and two other bodyguards remained in front, barrelling through the short line of still-stupefied clones, like they were making an incredibly risky retreat.

Which, in a way, they were.

Just as she'd instructed, her army ran like their lives depended on it. They were halfway to the abandoned buildings, before the clones started shooting and she heard a cry of pain.

_Oh, Force, no._

"Keep going!" she yelled to Keran. Then she spun back, searching for the source of the cry.

Blaster bolts zipped at her face. Acacia jerked up her lightsaber, deflecting the whorls of fire, still searching for the one who'd been hit. _There._ Ryan Lean, the little senator who'd asked about the battle cry, lay on the ground, clutching his leg, nearly lost in the whizzing bolts.

Acacia glanced back at the others; they'd nearly made it to cover.

Padme, at least, would make it home to Anakin.

The girl forced her way back, dodging between the clones, dancing through the fire, hoping against hope that she'd make it before...

_No._ She _would_ make it before he died.

A searing pain jarred her arm as a blaster bolt clipped it. Another sliced a jagged line in her cheek. But still, she ran.

The clones, now focused on the other group, had moved on, leaving Lean unnoticed. Still alert for attack, Acacia knelt by his side. Two gaping holes yawned in his leg, several cuts spattered his face, and blood trickled from a wound on his chest.

"Leave me behind."

"Don't be heroic," she spat. "You're a politician, remember?"

He smiled weakly, but his reply was swept away by the clamor of battle and a loud creak from behind. Acacia's head jerked upward. Stiffneck and his crew were ready.

Though keenly aware of Lean's weakening pulse, she took a second to glance forward. As planned, all the clones had bunched up a few yards ahead of the meeting house, and all of them were focused on Padme and the rest. They'd made it to the other buildings and were shooting back as best they could. Acacia's army would be clear of the fall.

But she couldn't say the same for her and Lean.

The walls of the house groaned. A few of the nearer clones heard the sound and turned to look.

_It's now or never._

She looked down at Lean. His eyes had closed, so she shook him awake. "This is gonna hurt," she warned, before picking him up and tackling him to the side. They rammed into a few clones along the way, and the senator's muffled moans told her her warning had not been unwarranted. Acacia herself knew she'd feel the bruises for days to come.

But it wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been.

_I'd better be right about that,_ she thought, looking back at the house from where she and Lean lay, just on the edge of the battlefield, just out of blaster bolt range.

Had she calculated correctly?

Weakened as the walls were by time and blaster fire, Acacia had figured that if half the team pushed on the rear supports just right, the entire structure would come tumbling down.

Or, more accurately, tumbling forwards.

A good deal of the old house just fell in, but a great deal of it fell forwards. Acacia used the Force to guide some extras, plonking them right on the army of clones, standing right in front of the house, right where Acacia and her crew had led them.

When the last piece fell, a few too many were still standing. But the various bodyguards took care of that.

Keran's blaster flashed a bolt; the last clone fell with a dull _thud_ against the ground.

The battle was over.

Exhausted, Acacia struggled to her feet, and the rest of her army peeked out from the dust of the destroyed shack or the cover of the buildings around it. Further down the street, a few residents poked heads out of their windows, but they soon ducked back in. Maybe because of the Imperial clones, maybe because of Acacia's lightsaber.

Reckless as it was, she wanted to leave it glowing.

But, for the moment, she didn't need it. So she switched off her weapon and turned back to Lean. He was completely still.

Before she could check for vitals, one of the other senators rushed over. "My sister's a medic," she explained, pulling out a small kit. "She taught me some things."

Acacia nodded, but she didn't step away until she sensed his ForceMark flicker back on. When she did move again, the exhaustion roared up, threatening to swallow her whole. She had to concentrate to keep her feet moving straight.

The girl shook her her, shoving away her weariness. Battle or no battle, she was still the leader. Acacia cleared her throat. "Anyone else with an injury come over here. Senator..."

"Li," she said without looking up.

"Senator Li can treat you."

Nearly every being in her ragtag army dragged over. Several of the injuries were so serious, Li said they must see a real medic immediately, and the less-injured hurried to get them on their ships and transports.

Still, as she looked around, Acacia realized: from her army, they were no dead.

This once, everybody had lived.

Behind her, a quiet cheer rose up. Everyone turned to look at Lean, small and pale, prone on a makeshift stretcher, waiting to be taken to a hospital. "What?" he whispered. "You said I could cheer when the battle was over."

Acacia couldn't help it; she laughed and it helped lift some of her exhaustion. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did."

"Well," Keran said, wincing from the wound in his thigh. "I say we all could do with a cheer."

Acacia was about to protest: there could be more clones in the area, they all needed to leave, they really had no time for this nonsense.

But then everyone, even Mr. Stiffneck, was cheering loud enough to be heard on Tatooine, and anything she would've said was drowned out.

With plenty of work still to do, surrounded by the dead, the near-dead, and the seriously injured, cheering at the top of her lungs was not the most Jedi-like action.

Acacia lifted up her voice and whooped.

* * *

As they loaded the last senators into their ships, Keran limped to her side. "Well, kid," he said. "Looks like you literally brought the house down."

She chuckled. "So it would seem."

"Indeed." Stiffneck strode over. "Even though you scorned my genius – not once, but twice – then turned around and used my plan in your reckless, insane, downright _foolhardy_ scheme anyway," A smile curled on his lips, "it has been an honor to fight by your side." He bowed, then extended his hand.

Grinning, Acacia shook it. "Same to you, Mr. Stiffneck."

Keran gaped. "_Wow_. In one morning, Marcus apologizes, we beat up a bunch of clones, _and_ I get to fight side by side with a Jedi." He shook his head. "Must be a time for miracles."

Acacia nodded. "And it's only just begun."

* * *

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	14. Chapter 13

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* * *

Chapter 13

After he finished talking with Dex and Ferus, Anakin discovered an overwhelming desire to throw his commlink against the wall. He stopped himself only because Ferus' head was not on the wall, and so the only fruit from that action would be a broken commlink. As he rather needed it, Anakin decided the throwing would be counterproductive.

Plus, he'd have to explain the dent in the wall and the cracked comm to Padme. He didn't feel like doing that either.

Anakin checked his chrono. Only minutes till the Senate meeting began. If Padme and Acacia weren't back in five, he'd go after them, screw Bail Organa, his delegation, and all his kriffing regulations.

Still, that left Anakin with five minutes to kill. And plenty of problems to swamp his mind in the meantime.

After he pushed away all thoughts of Ferus, the ship, Acacia, Padme, and the twins, Anakin had two main worries on his mind. His first concern was how he'd fixed the energy cell. Even now, he couldn't say what he'd done, nor did he know for certain why he'd been so exhausted afterwards. He needed to talk to someone, someone who knew more about the Force than he did. Someone who could tell him if his powers were getting stronger... or weaker.

The Jedi sighed, made a mental note to contact Obi-Wan if he could, and moved on.

His second question - who in the Galaxy was their spy? - held his attention far tighter than his own problems. Grim as the thought was, if his powers were getting weaker, he'd find out sooner or later. But everything and everyone he cared about hinged on his ability to find the spy, rat them out, and make sure they never came near his family again.

Problem was, Anakin had no idea where to start.

Thoughts of Obi-Wan reminded Anakin of meditation, a technique his former Master practically swore by. With nothing else to do and enough fear in his head to drive him mad, Anakin settled on the floor, crossed his legs, and plunged himself into the Force.

_Calm your mind, my very young apprentice._ Obi-Wan's voice whispered.

_Careful, deep breaths._

_Force away your distractions._ All_ of them._

_Concentrate._

Anakin had to focus. The answer was there. He _knew_ it. He just couldn't see it yet.

This spy. She was someone in Padme's inner circle. Both the Delegation and Padme's security had known she would attend the Senate meeting, but only the latter group knew the course they were taking. Unless their spy had set a gravity generator at every possible route from Naboo to Coruscant, it had to be someone in her security. Someone close to her. Someone she believed in. Someone who had tricked her, used her trust, and turned her over to Sidious.

Anger heated in his veins. _Calm yourself._

But how to root the person out? Padme's personal security consisted only of himself, Acacia, Sabe, and Dorme. Obviously, the first two he could vouch for, and Padme had known Sabe and Dorme since childhood.

He'd also checked her Coruscant guard, led by Gregar Typho. They handled all her other security: cameras, Senate patrols, things of that lived in the apartments next door, but Anakin rarely saw them because, after Order 66, he and Padme decided the fewer who saw him and Acacia, the better.

But maybe he'd missed something with them. Maybe-

"M'lord Anakin?" A knock on the door ripped the Jedi out of his meditation. He scowled. The one time he actually managed to focus, too.

But that was ruined now, so Anakin arose, opened the door, and saw Sabe standing in front of him. "Apologies for interrupting you," she said, bobbing a quick curtsy. "But the senator and Miss Acacia have returned."

* * *

"You were _what_?"

"Attacked," Padme said, rifling through their closet for a cleaner outfit than the torn and soiled one she wore.

"You were attacked."

"Yes, Anakin. But Acacia took care of things." His wife shot him a pointed look, and somewhere in the fog of his mind, Anakin recalled what he'd said the night before. "In fact, if you don't mind, Acacia, please explain everything to him. I have to get ready."

With that, Padme ducked in the bathroom, new dress in hand, as if an ambush from a squad of troopers was something she experienced everyday.

"Admittedly," Acacia said aloud, hearing his thoughts, "it does happen to her more often than the average person."

"That doesn't mean she can _act_ like it," Anakin grumbled. "So..." he added louder, "you were attacked."

"Yes, big brother." From her perch on their bed, Acacia rolled her eyes, a spark of amusement playing in them. "Rushing army, blazing gunfire, the whole shebang."

Anakin grit his teeth. "You are both taking this very lightly."

"That's only because we're both alive. Had we died, I promise I'd be much more somber."

"That's not funny." The tiniest of smiles crept on his face. "Now will you explain what happened already? And why in the kriffing Galaxy you decided not to call me?"

"In the speeder," Padme said, dashing from the bathroom, still pinning up her hair. "We have to go. Now."

His sister shrugged, shoved herself off the bed, and followed Padme. "I've learned not to argue with her," she said over her shoulder.

Too bewildered to do much else, Anakin grabbed his guard clothes and followed them both.

Bewildered, but determined to get some answers.

* * *

"I am going to remove Sidious' head from his shoulders," Anakin announced, after his sister finished a telepathic debriefing.

"Shh." Padme glanced at the vehicle behind them, ensuring her handmaidens could keep up with Anakin's driving. "That is not a diplomatic solution."

"Course not." Anakin shrugged, diving above a speeder and around an air taxi. "It's aggressive–"

"Negotiations?"

"Yes, actually." He glanced sideways at his wife. "Why? It's not like we could even come to a diplomatic solution with him."

"True," Padme nodded, "but lopping his head off won't get the other senators on our side, which we _do_ need and_ can_ find a diplomatic solution for."

"If you say so," Anakin muttered.

"Will you at least mention the attack at the meeting?" he asked, after several minutes of basking in fury.

Padme shook her head. "No. Not today at least. I'd have to admit that we broke the law."

"He'd have to admit he sent an army after you."

"Yes. Which is too severe a punishment. And honestly, a bit reckless for him. So he probably won't mention it either."

Anakin shoved the controls upward, veering into the right lane, ignoring the string of curses another driver threw at him. "But you're letting him get away with it!"

"No one is getting away with anything," Padme replied. "Including you, if you don't start obeying traffic laws. I'm simply not going to address it at this meeting. Not till I'm sure we can gain something from it."

Anakin grunted, fury still sparking in his eyes. "Fine." he said, pulling up behind the Imperial Building. "But I'm not done discussing this. Especially not with you, Acacia." He glared back at his dozing sister as he pulled the guard uniform over his own clothes. "I can't believe you didn't at least call me."

"Huh? Oh, I thought about it," she admitted, shaking herself awake. "But you were too far away to help."

"You still_ could've_."

"What for, Ani?" Acacia rubbed exhaustion out of her eyes. "You'd have only freaked out and done something reckless. Maybe gotten us all killed."

Anakin hopped out of the speeder, still scowling behind his facemask. "Good to know you have such faith in me."

His sister shrugged and smirked, pulling her red hood over her face. "Only as much as you have in me."

* * *

**Author's Note: So I know it was a week ago and all, but still, happy super late Thanksgiving everybody! Hope you all had an awesome day and ate awesome food!**

**Wanna know something I'm thankful for? People who review. Now I know that was probably all over the site last week, but it's true. You people make my day. Whether you're raving about my awesomeness or offering a note of constructive criticism, I love you. Thank you so ****_so_**** much.**

**Speaking of people who review, special thanks to my friend Emma/purpledramagirl17 who has reviewed pretty much every chapter in this story. Because I am not in the least tech-savvy, I can't figure out how to add a link to her stories. So sorry about that. But if you go to my reviews, you'll definitely find her. :)**


	15. Chapter 14

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* * *

Chapter 14

_Only as much as you have in me._

Anakin couldn't decide what Acacia meant by that. Was she still sore about last night? Or maybe she'd meant it as a joke, or even a compliment, that she _did_ trust him, same as he trusted her.

Inwardly, the Jedi sighed. As his sister grew older, she became more and more like other girls: impossible to understand. Even with their mental connection, sometimes he could only guess. Especially lately.

Anakin had hoped it would never come to this, but it seemed that Acacia just might be growing up.

As they entered the Senate with Padme and the other handmaidens, his mind automatically switched to bodyguard mode, fixating on surveying his surroundings, on possible threats, on protecting Padme.

Anakin shook himself. He couldn't take that route again, couldn't concentrate so fully on his wife that he forgot his sister existed. He wouldn't make her feel forgotten, feel _less_, not today and not ever.

At the same time, now wasn't exactly the moment for a heart-to-heart, so he filed it all away under "Talk To Acacia About Tonight." Along with his other questions about their morning, it was becoming a rather long list.

As they entered the almost-empty lobby, Anakin took a second to search Acacia's ForceMark. He sensed her exhaustion and winced; maybe he should've given her the day off. Too late for that now, of course, but he should ask, right? Then, at the very least, she'd know he'= noticed.

_You gonna be okay?_

She glanced over her shoulder, giving him a tired half-smile – and a great amount of relief. _Yeah, I'm fine. Exhausted, yes. But I can do this. Don't worry._

He smiled back, and though no one could see beneath his helmet, he knew his sister felt it in the Force._ I'm not worried,_ he replied, _I know you've got this._

The beaming grin didn't show on her face, but Anakin caught its full force in his mind. _Thanks. Now go play with the other guards. I'll make sure no one comes near her._

_You stay safe, too._

_Will do._

Anakin fell back, headed towards the other guards' entrance. Half of him wanted to give one more warning. To remind his sister to stay on extra red alert. To never take her eyes off her surroundings. To remain aware of every being that so much as breathed in their direction.

But, deep down, he knew she had it covered. What was more, Anakin had the distinct feeling that Acacia needed to know that _he_ knew she could handle this.

So he turned around and kept walking.

* * *

Because, as far as the Senate knew, it had been months since the last attempt on Padme's life, Anakin and Padme had decided that he should spend the meeting with Typho and her other guards; his presence as a tall, cloaked man skulking in the shadows would create more suspicion than his protection could warrant.

So, like it or not, Anakin had surrendered her personal guarding to Acacia, Sabe, and Dorme. Meanwhile, he'd be in the security room, as his sister put it, "playing with the other guards."

At least this way, he could have another look at Padme's security, see if he could spot a spy among them. Anakin's metal hand clenched at the thought and grazed his hip, but his fingers met a standard blaster instead of a lightsaber, his usual weapon being hidden in his boot. It would take longer for him to reach it that way, but he had no better place to keep it on this uniform. Besides, if things went well, he wouldn't even need it.

Anakin reached the security room and scanned it for Padme's guards. There. The group of blue and leather clad beings, all but one with helmets over their faces. Because he'd known Anakin would spend the meeting with them, Typho had commanded his guards to wear their facemasks down. That way, it wouldn't be strange when Anakin came in doing the same. The Jedi didn't know what excuse Typho had given them, or if he'd offered one at all, but, with the exception of Typho himself, they'd all obeyed.

Interestingly enough, they weren't the only ones. While many of the other guard uniforms stopped at their necks, many more hid their faces behind masks, half-masks, helmets, or glasses.

_So even in the days of the glorious Empire, many still feel the need for a little extra protection._

Anakin speed-walked across the room, keeping to himself, until he came to the Nabooian's section. One of their guards scoffed and joked him about being late, clearly without knowing who Anakin was. Though it drew slight attention to them, Anakin ignored her. Partially because Typho gave the woman a glare that could've frozen over Mos Eisley.

"You're stationed here," Typho whispered as Anakin neared. "This computer shows the north side of the room, directly opposite the senator."

With the Senate Room being so large, and Acacia so exhausted, it might be difficult for his sister to sense something so far away. But from here, Anakin could see any danger before it was even dangerous and dispatch it prior to its becoming so.

Perfect. Now to sit back and enjoy the life of a security guard. Provided, of course, no assassins came along and ruined it for everyone.

As Anakin settled into his chair, glancing at the people around him, he could only just suppress his anger. Padme had handpicked her entire security force; every guard that wore her colors had met her, knew her personally. She trusted them and Anakin trusted his wife's judgment.

Yet, here they were with a spy in their midst, and too many close calls for even Anakin's comfort. The Jedi resolved to keep his mind open to their ForceMarks, even as he watched the meeting and protected Padme from afar. He had enough stifled anger and energy to do it all.

If the spy was in this room, they weren't leaving it alive.

* * *

Acacia glowed from her brother's praise. It wasn't just what he said; it was _how_ he said it. The pure confidence threaded through his thoughts, radiating in every word he sent to her.

Admittedly, Anakin was laying the bacta on a little thick, trying to apologize for last night. **S**till, Acacia sensed the majority of it was genuine, or at least enough for her to forgive him. New energy pumped through her limbs and she shoved off the lingering exhaustion, forcing herself to focus.

She determined do her part well. To live up to the trust her brother had given her.

That resolve lasted exactly five minutes and twenty-six seconds into the monotone, droning voice of the first spokesperson. After that, Acacia could barely keep herself conscious.

She noticed Padme didn't have any such problems. Her eyes darted about, from senator to king to queen and back again, listening closely as each gave out their two-credits worth of opinion. In spite of how much she admired her sister-in-law, Acacia couldn't help wondering. Padme had had the same morning she did, so how in the Galaxy did she keep from nodding off?

_Easy. Padme doesn't think this political crap is crappy._ Anakin whispered, peeking into her thoughts.

Acacia smirked, her slight annoyance dissipating. _Undoubtedly. Now focus on your part, brother. I'm awake. I promise._

Anakin retreated, and Acacia pinched her arm to keep awake. She wished she could fidget, but Dorme and Sabe had already fixed her with highly disapproving gazes for rustling as much as she had.

Acacia sent out another searching in the Force, careful to avoid Vader and Sidious. Their near presences made her skin prickle, and she suddenly understood Anakin's wish to sprint in and stab them both through the heart like she'd done to Grievous. But she also recalled what Padme said: now was not the time and the Senate not the place.

_Soon,_ _though._ A darker emotion whispered_. Soon._

"Your Excellency?" A Neimoidian representative addressed Padme, forcing Acacia to focus again.

"Yes, Senator?" Padme sounded clear and professional, not a hint of an antagonism in her tone.

Not so for the Neimoidian. His lip curled in a barely concealed sneer. "I must say I am surprised, Senator Amidala. Normally, you are the first to decry every proposal issued from our illustrious Emperor's mouth." He gestured towards Palpatine, as if she needed a reminder of whom he meant. "Why so quiet today? Could it be that you actually agree with his newest policies?"

"If the senator wishes to hold her peace," Palpatine's voice sounded through the room, "then by all means, allow her to do so."

_Force._ Acacia thought. They'd called her out. Like Anakin, and even Acacia herself, when in her element, Padme could not resist so direct a challenge.

Acacia watched carefully as Padme took her podium, every eye in the room on her sister-in-law. Malevolence rolled off some senators in tidal waves, indifference barely sparked in others, and the girl sensed pure admiration in fewer than she would've hoped. She recognized several members of the Delegation in the crowd, but not half as many as she'd seen that morning. Not that Padme needed support, but it was a pity she didn't have more. Particularly considering how much, well, _non_support she'd garnered.

Because her senses were so far stretched, Acacia heard little of Padme's brief speech. Even so, though she didn't think much of these meetings, she had to admit, Padme was a dynamic speaker. Had more of the senators been in their right minds, she would've easily rallied them all to the rebellion's cause without their even knowing it.

Unfortunately, too many of them were not in their right minds and already on the side of the Sith unawares.

"I thought you weren't planning on talking today," Acacia said wryly, when Padme sat down.

The senator shrugged, a twinkle in her tired eyes. "Couldn't turn down a direct request. Besides, I was short and I'm letting Mon take it from here."

Though almost as powerful a speaker as Padme, Mon proved to be a bit long-winded. She spoke through lunchtime, and Acacia barely got to snack on the little dishes a handmaiden brought them. After what seemed like hours, she slipped a hand into her pocket, hoping Sabe and Dorme hadn't seen her move, and fished around inside. She didn't remember leaving a snack from breakfast, but perhaps she was just too tired to recall...

All her fingers met was a slim piece of paper. But that alone froze her solid.

The picture of Owen.

Glancing around to ensure there was no danger and that Sabe and Dorme weren't looking her way, Acacia slowly drew out the picture and unfolded it. Miraculously, it had survived the morning. The image of her and her brother laughing still played, not a warble in the repeat, not a drop of dirt on the back of it.

An intense longing for home struck her again, but she ignored it, shoving the paper back in her pocket. She loved Owen, sure, and maybe later she'd contact him. But she _was_ home, she told herself stubbornly. This was her family, this was her place, and right here, right now, protecting Padme was her purpose. This was what she had chosen.

There was no room for doubt now.

* * *

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	16. Chapter 15

**A Christmas gift to all my lovely readers! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!**

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Chapter 15

When the meeting was over, Anakin again felt the distinct desire to throw something against the wall. And not because something had happened; quite the reverse, because _nothing_ had. He'd focused so hard, stayed aware of every single thing that took place in both rooms.

And _nothing_. Well, nothing but a lot of useless talk and political drivel when the answers to the questions were clear as day, practically dancing on the politicians' noses. Unfortunately, everybody but about two were either too cracked or too crooked to realize it.

But he digressed.

Perhaps the spy had done nothing to expose herself that day. Perhaps after the epic fails in recent attempts, she'd decided to lay low for a while, make a newer, more dastardly plan. Perhaps the spy wasn't even there, but was back at her house or out patrolling or even still on Naboo.

Or maybe, he just hadn't concentrated as hard as he thought.

Either way, he'd have to try harder. Anakin _would_ catch the spy before she tried something else.

Releasing an infuriated sigh, Anakin rose from his chair and went to find Acacia and Padme. A throng of Senate reps had congregated in the lobby, and the second time he looked, he realized the crowd was surrounding his wife and his sister.

Anakin's heart rate sped up, but he forced himself to relax. He didn't sense any danger, and Acacia was in the thick of the horde. If she sensed a problem, she'd have alerted him. There was no reason to worry. Really...

But he didn't stop worrying till he was by their side.

Acacia didn't look at him. _Took you long enough. These senators are making me claustrophobic._

_The closer you are, the easier it is to stab someone in the back._ The thought slipped out of his mind, as unintentional as a speeder crash.

_Gee, Ani, I feel so much better now._

He smiled ruefully. _Sorry. They just have no sense of personal space. Better?_

_Much. Can we go now?_

_Most definitely._

After Padme extricated herself from her few friends and abundant enemies, the group hurried out to their speeders. Acacia napped most of the way home, and Anakin and Padme were just as quiet, both lost in their own thoughts.

When they returned to the house, Padme disappeared into her bedroom, and Sabe and Dorme left for theirs. "Caish," Anakin called, once they were alone. "Can we talk?"

She stifled a yawn and nodded. "Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just–"

"Okay, stupid question." Acacia chuckled, lifting a hand to halt her brother's sarcastic reply. "I guess a better one is, what do you want me to do?"

Anakin let out a tiny smile. "Give me another rundown of what happened this morning."

"But I already told you about that."

"You gave me the briefest of brief debriefings." This time, Anakin held up a hand to halt his sister's sarcastic reply "I want the full story."

Acacia shrugged and told her brother everything: from their arrival at the ruined shack to the moment when Ryan Lean cheered. Anakin kept silent until she finished, his clenched fists, tight lips, and the smoldering anger in his ForceMark saying all that needed to be said.

"Why," he began, struggling to keep his voice calm, "was Padme in the fore group?"

"I knew you'd be upset, but she insisted. I didn't have time to argue, and we both know that arguing with her never gets anybody anywhere anyway."

Anakin grunted. "Yeah, well what about you? All those people saw your lightsaber. They know who you are now."

"See, that's the cool part." Acacia grinned. "All of them said they would keep my secret."

Her brother's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"Yeah. I think at least some of the Delegation are starting to trust the Jedi again. In any case, they all promised not to turn me in. So yeah, I have friends in high places now."

A smile tugged at the edge of Anakin's lips, but his anger and anxiety held it down, forcing him to jump back into his questioning. Eventually, his sister gave up and replayed the events for him in her mind. "There," she said when it was over. "Now you've seen everything."

He smiled ruefully. "Thanks. That was... Well that was pretty reckless."

"My plan? Yeah, but I couldn't think of anything better. And besides." She smirked. "You're one to talk."

"True." Anakin allowed a tiny smile. "And I guess it all worked out in the end. So who cares?"

They shared a laugh, and Anakin relaxed a little, even managing a full-on grin as he continued. "So baby sister, you sensed an attack way before it happened, organized and led an army of _Senate reps_, and literally smashed a squad of clones all on your own." He shook his head. "We should call the Council."

Acacia frowned. "Why?"

"So they can Knight you already."

His sister's frown flipped into a smirk. "Thanks, but I doubt they would. The plan was too reckless for them, even if it did work out."

"That's definitely true."

"Besides, I wasn't completely alone. There's no way I could've done it by myself."

"Yeah, but you _led_, Caish. They couldn't have done it without your help. You, Squirt, were amazing."

Acacia rolled her eyes, but for once, the name didn't bother her. Much. "Thanks, Ani. I guess I was kind of awesome."

Her brother scoffed. "Kind of."

She grinned back, but after a second, the smile flickered. "It was weird, though."

"What was?"

"The way the clones acted. I mean, they were kind of slow, you know? And when me and Lean were behind them, they just ignored us, totally focused on the team ahead. They acted, well, a little bit like droids."

Anakin shook his head. "I think you're overthinking this. You were just too fast for them."

"Well, seeing as you _under_think everything..."

"Not everything." He winked. "And if the clones _are_ slower, that's good for us."

"Still..."

"Caish, you won today." He stood and hugged her. "Relish the victory and laugh in Sidious' face if you get the chance."

Acacia grinned at her brother, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks, Ani. Well, I'm beat so..."

"Yeah, go ahead and get some rest. You deserve it."

As she left for her bedroom, she smiled once more over her shoulder, violet eyes flashing, brown curls bouncing as she walked. "Good night, bro."

He grinned back. "Night, sis."

Today, Acacia had won her battle. And he was proud. But Anakin knew they still had plenty left to fight.

* * *

The saffron eyes were so full of disdain, Vader thought it might overflow and drown them both. "The girl and the senator are alive because?"

"The plan was never to kill them, Master. Only to frighten them, catch them off-guard." A lie, of course. But perhaps he could conceal that from the Dark Lord.

Sidious raised a mangled eyebrow. "And the point of that?"

Scrambling for a reason. "To test them. All of them. To see if they are really as worthy as you claim." _To see if_ he _is really more worthy than me._

The lightning surged into Vader's body before he could blink. "It is not your place to decide such things."

Alarms blaring in his armor, warnings of overheating, fried circuitry, dead nerve cells, he ignored them all. Instead, Vader forced himself to stand, replying with as much dignity as he could muster. "Forgive me, my lord."

A scoff. "I am not a forgiving individual, Vader. Every time that your little schemes fail, every day Padme and Acacia remain alive, you fail me. In addition, you insult me with obvious excuses." Darth Sidious leaned forward, seeming to leer over his apprentice, though he stood a full foot shorter. "One more mistake, Vader, and I am not sure I will have any further use for you."

Vader nodded, bowing low before his Master. "I understand. I will go at once to plan the next attack."

"Wait a little," the Dark Lord replied, sinking back into the shadows. "They are watching for threats now. Give them time to relax, to lessen their vigilance without even realizing they have.

"And Vader."

"Yes, my lord?"

"When you do attack again, be a bit more subtle in your efforts, if that is not too much for you."

Vader bowed once more before backing out of the room. "Subtle it is, my Master."

But as he left the darkness and strode away, Vader knew his plans would be his and his alone.

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	17. Chapter 16

**Happy New Year everybody! Hope you're having an awesome start to 2015!**

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Chapter 16

"I have to meet up with Ferus today."

When Anakin woke up that morning, he realized that he'd never told Acacia or Padme about his plans to fix the ship. Following their return from battle, the day had been too full of too-short explanations, too-long senate meetings, and too-much confusion for him to remember to mention it. He'd thought that simply announcing his plan at breakfast would be the best way to let Padme know, but from the look on his wife's face, he should have tried a different approach.

"Ferus who?" she asked. "And for what?"

"Olin, former Jedi. And to fix the ship."

"Okay." She nodded slowly. "But when today?"

Anakin sensed the mounting exasperation in his wife's ForceMark, but he wasn't sure what to say to stop it. So he just answered her question. "This afternoon."

Wrong answer. "This afternoon? But Ani, it's an all-day meeting! How are you going to fix the ship and run security?"

"Well," Anakin said slowly, already knowing how this would go over, wishing he could stall it, hoping he could reason with her. "I thought we could leave early."

"Leave _early,_" she repeated, as if he'd just suggested they drop younglings out of a moving starfighter.

He frowned, hunting through his head for another idea. Unfortunately, he had no others as he'd failed to consider that tiny detail when he accepted Ferus' assistance. "Well, Padme," Anakin said, for lack of anything else, "the ship has to be fixed."

"I know that, Ani. But I have to be at the senate meeting."

"The whole time?"

"Yes," she replied, in a voice too full of finality for him to argue.

He argued anyway. "But you said you'd only observe these next few days. So couldn't you ask Mon or Bail to tell you about the rest of it later?"

"Tell her about the rest of what?" Acacia asked, shuffling in the room and collapsing at the table, the last to arrive at breakfast.

"The Senate meeting," Padme replied, anger simmering in her voice. "And to answer your question, Anakin, no."

Acacia yawned. "Why would someone have to–"

"Because I need to meet Ferus this afternoon to fix the ship."

"Ferus?" Acacia perked up a little, pushing strands of curly brown hair out of wide violet eyes. "As in Ferus Olin?"

"Yeah, it's a long story. Tell you later. Point is, he's going to help me fix the ship." Anakin forced himself to say that without puking. "We agreed to meet sometime this afternoon."

"So what's the big deal? You go; I'll watch out for Padme like I did yesterday."

Anakin paused, trying to think of the most unoffensive way to say what he wished to say. "I know you _can_, Caish. I don't doubt your skills." _Couldn't possibly after yesterday._ "But I don't want you at the meeting alone either." The thought of his sister and his wife so close to the two most evil beings in the Galaxy, and Anakin wasn't sure whether to throw up or go on a wild rampage.

And that was when he was only a few stories below them.

Acacia nodded slowly, and her brother hoped she understood. "You can't reschedule with Ferus?"

"No. These repairs could take days. We have to get started as soon as possible."

"M'lord, M'lady." Sabe raised a hand, reminding Anakin of her and Dorme's presence. "If I might propose an idea?"

Padme nodded. "Of course."

"I know that Master Skywalker worries for your safety, but Dorme and I are perfectly capable of protecting you. If he and Miss Acacia need to repair the ship, the two of us could watch over you as Typho and the others do in the security room." A small smile touched the edge of her mouth. "Like we used to."

Padme turned to her husband. "It's not a bad idea, Ani."

But he was already shaking his head. "No. I don't want any of you at the meeting alone. You_ need_ a Jedi there." He fixed his eyes on his wife's, trying to remind her of the dangers she always seemed to forget.

But she just rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt they'll stage an attack in the middle of a Senate meeting."

Anakin highly doubted it too. Too many witnesses. But "highly doubted" was not the same as "absolutely sure," and this was one of the few situations in which he refused to take a chance. "But you don't know that they won't. At least one of us should be there, and I won't leave you two alone."

"Then we've reached a stalemate," Padme said in her Senator voice, her hands folded on the table, her gaze fixed on his, forcing him to stare into her suddenly steely eyes. "I can't miss the meeting, you can't miss your meeting, and you can't be in two places at one time."

Never one to back down, Anakin returned her glare, mind still whirling, searching for a way to convince her.

"Can I say something?" Acacia asked.

They both whipped around to face her; she swallowed, and took that as a yes. "Ani, you're not okay with us going to the Senate without you?"

"That's what I–"

"Great. Then I'll take the extra speeder, meet with Ferus, and fix the ship."

"Wait, what?"

"Look, I'm not the best with repairs, but if he tells me what to do, I can manage. That way, we get some work started on the ship, you don't have to leave the Senate, and neither does Padme."

Anakin frowned. "I don't want you going off alone either. Plus, it'd be best if we were both there. In case something happens."

"Sure, but be honest. What you're really worried about is _you_ not being there. And," She smirked. "I can handle myself.

"This is really the only option we got anyway." _At least the only one that doesn't end with you and your beloved fighting for days._

_We've never fought for days._

_Weeks then._

Padme nodded slowly. "It could work. If you're sure you're all right with this, Acacia."

"Hey, I suggested it, didn't I?" She smiled and her brother could tell it was mostly genuine. "I'm good with it. Promise."

They all turned to Anakin, who tried to devise a better idea, one that met all the demands and didn't involve his sister going off on her own. It wasn't that he didn't trust her skill; only that, especially with how active their spy had been recently, he was reluctant to let his sister or his wife out of his sight.

But there were too many pros to Acacia's solution: Padme got to go to her meeting, Anakin got to protect her, and he didn't even have to deal with his old rival.

He sighed, sending his sister a silent and sincere thank you. "All right, Caish. I'll go call Ferus."

* * *

_Acacia?_

_Hmm?_ the girl replied, only half listening as she started her speeder.

_I know I never say this, but be careful, okay?_

Acacia nearly crashed into the Senate building. _Who are you and what have you done with my brother?_

He chuckled, and she allowed a tiny smile as she righted her ship. _I_ said _I know I never say this. It's just... it's dangerous–_

_I can take care of myself._

_I know. I just thought I should remind you to be careful. So you'd remember._

_Because you never do?_

She sensed her brother grinning. _Precisely._

_Well, then, I promise to do the best I can. But being your sister and all, I don't know, it might be rough._

He sent her a wink. _Fair enough._

_Now concentrate on Padme and the meeting, okay? I'll be fine. Promise._

_Holding you to that,_ he said and then signed off.

Acacia spent the rest of her ride in silence, forcing herself to focus on zipping through the crowded streets, rather than on the tangle of emotions surging through her mind. It was difficult to keep her uncertainties from Anakin, but her brother was more distracted than he realized, so full of his worries, it wasn't impossible to conceal her own whenever they spoke.

But alone, with nothing to distract her but the speeder's controls, her homesickness resurfaced, and the love for what she had with Anakin and Padme was no longer enough to sedate it. She felt torn, torn between Anakin, his wonderful recklessness and how hard he was trying to show he cared; and Owen, her steady, calm brother with his quiet, constant love. She thought of Padme and the twins, of high-speed chases and wild battles; she thought of Owen and Beru, the lowing of their sweet (though stinky) livestock, and playing around the vaporators when she was little. She recalled the hills and lakes of Naboo; she recalled the warm, golden desert going on forever and the tickly feeling of sand between her toes.

Finding the picture of Owen led to remembering everything she missed about her homeworld, supplanting her former contentment with a desperate ache for home.

At the same time, she remembered why she'd wanted to leave in the first place: nothing ever happened where she'd lived on Tatooine, hidden away from the gangs, and the slavery, and the hutts. There was beauty in that, for sure, less to fear, more to love. But eventually, even the pretty parts got old, and she'd be as sick of the double suns as she was of Padme's Senate meetings. So of course it was best to stay where she was, as she was.

If only she could believe that completely.

Finally, the private hanger loomed ahead of her, she could dock, shove away her jumble of emotions, and focus on the task at hand. In the comfort of busyness, she didn't have to make a choice.

"Acacia," Ferus greeted her, nodding as she approached.

"Ferus." She nodded back, barely hiding a grin. "Still got all that starch up your cloak, I see."

To her surprise, he cracked a tiny smile. "You sound like Siri."

Acacia laughed. "I'd say I'm doing something right then."

Ferus' smile grew just slightly and he nodded his agreement.

"So did Anakin tell you what was wrong?" The girl asked as she scanned the keycard and entered the hangar, watching to see if Ferus' jaw twitched the way her brother's did whenever his rival's name was mentioned.

Ferus' face stayed as smooth as Palpatine's was wrinkled. "Yes. From what he said, it is an intensive repair job." He turned to her, the tiniest of smiles curving on his lips. "Are you capable of assisting?"

Normally, she'd be upset if someone asked her a question that way. But this was Ferus. She'd worked with him several times when she first became a padawan, and knew by now that he entirely lacked social graces. So she brushed off her own feelings and nodded. "Yup. Just tell me what to do."

Ferus did exactly that, and soon they were hard at work. Acacia quickly bored of the monotony, but she pressed on anyway. The Galaxy didn't revolve around her entertainment, and at least the monotony kept her other thoughts away.

On the bright side, Ferus proved remarkably easy to work with. He wasn't one for small talk, only speaking to tell her what to do, when she was doing something wrong, or when she had done something right. But still they fell into an easy rhythm. And, once she got over the boredom, Acacia found she almost enjoyed the work. She didn't love fixing things the way her brother did, but she did see the appeal. You could relax in the concentration, not have to talk or even think. You just _did._

And considering the thoughts currently begging for her attention, not having to think was remarkably appealing.

* * *

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	18. Chapter 17: Part 1

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Chapter 17: Part 1

Anakin was having a bad two days. First, he had to talk to his old rival, Ferus, then he found out that both his wife and his sister had been attacked, nearly killed, and hadn't even called him for help. After that, he had to sit through an infuriatingly boring Senate meeting while their would-be murders lounged only a few feet away. And now, just when the second miserable day was almost at its end, Darred called.

He'd never wanted to break his communicator so many times in two days. The only thing that stopped him now was the fact that it wasn't his comm at all. It was Padme's.

Anakin forced himself to appear civil as he answered. At least, Sola was there, too. Not as hard to be nice when the only Naberrie who liked him was on the comm line.

"Anakin?" his sister-in-law said. "Where's Padme? Is she all right?"

Anakin frowned at the panic in her voice. "She's fine. Right here, asleep. Why? What's the problem?"

"Oh thank the gods! We–"

"Wait, Sola, why _wouldn't_ she be okay?" Anakin sat up straighter. "Did you hear something?" _About our spy?_

"Well, yes. A friend of mine works in the um... well, the gossip columns on Coruscant. She said she'd been looking into a story about an illegal meeting of Senators in the Lower Levels and that one of her 'sources' saw Padme there. But she's okay? Padme, I mean?"

Anakin nodded, swallowing back his disappointment and a prick of fear. "Completely. And Sola... I hate to sound pompous, but you know you can't believe anything you hear from a gossipmonger."

"I know," Sola sighed. "It's just... it sounded like the sort of thing Padme would go to."

Anakin paused, unsure how to reply. Padme's comm was pretty secure against Empirical tapping; he'd made sure of that. Still, for Sola's sake, Anakin wasn't sure how much he should tell them. "Well, she didn't go," he finally lied. "The whole meeting might be nothing but a rumor. Look Sola," he added when the woman still looked worried, "I can ask her to call you in the morning."

"Would you? Oh that'd be great, Anakin. Thank you!"

The Jedi forced a smile. "Sure thing."

"All right." She sighed, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Thanks for indulging me in my paranoia. I've got to take care of the girls now, so I'll go ahead and say goodbye."

"Wait," Darred said, speaking for the first time, "I want to say something to Anakin first."

Sola paused. "All right. But be _nice_, Darred." She kissed his cheek. "Send Padme my love, Anakin, and don't forget to tell her to comm."

"Will do, Sola."

The minute his sister-in-law disappeared from sight, Anakin's manner chilled to Hoth's winter temperatures. "Darred."

"Look," the other man growled. "I know you lied about that meeting. You keep dragging Padme into these dangerous situations! You need to–"

"Goodbye, Darred," Anakin replied, switching off the comm. He had enough problems without having to deal with his brother-in-law's stupidity. Darred's irrational animosity would have to wait.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry this scene is so short, guys, but I had a ton of trouble trying to get this chapter, and this scene was all I had ready to post in time. Hopefully, I can give you a good long one next week! As always, thanks for reading and please review!**


	19. Chapter 17: Part 2

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Chapter 17: Part 2

Early the next morning, while Padme was comming her sister, Anakin went to talk to his. Hopefully, she'd still speak to him after he left her to spend the day with Ferus.

"Hey, Caish."

She smiled. Good sign. "Hey, Ani. How'd the meeting go yesterday?"

Her brother shrugged, flopping onto the couch in her bedroom. "It was a meeting: one person argued, another person argued back, then a third person jumped in, and everybody started bickering together. They went on like that the whole day, and had so much fun, they decided to do it again tomorrow."

Acacia laughed. "Didn't ask you, though, huh?"

"If I wanted to do it again tomorrow? Obviously not."

"Well, we could switch places if you like," she teased. "I'm sure Ferus would love to see you again. You two could catch up over a wrench and a wingnut and try not to stab each other through."

"You're hilarious, Squirt."

She winked. "I know.

"Seriously, though," she added, tying her boots, "are you thinking of coming with me today?"

Anakin paused because he hadn't thought about it. But considering what he'd just said and the day he likely had ahead of him, it didn't seem like an awful idea. After a moment though, he shook his head. "No, I can't. You never know when they'll decide to strike."

Acacia nodded gravely. "Yes, of course. And obviously, the baddies would hit the very day our Hero was out." She smirked at her brother, grinning wider when he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well." Anakin smirked back. "I still say I got the better end of the deal."

"What makes you think that?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Ferus?"

"Oh, him. I don't know, Ani." His sister shrugged. "He's seriously not half-bad."

"Acacia?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you suffering from exhaustion or something?"

This time, it was Acacia who rolled her eyes. "Positive, brother. Admittedly, Ferus doesn't talk much, and when he does talk, he doesn't always say the nicest things. But I don't think it's out of spite. Seems like somehow, some way, the polite genes just skipped him. Then again," She nodded towards her brother, "sometimes it seems like they skipped you, too."

"True," he said slowly, hoping she wasn't referring to something specific, "but I'm funnier."

Acacia scoffed. "Whatever. Point is, working with him's not awful. Plus, I think I'm starting to get why you like fixing things so much."

"Well," Anakin grunted, pushing himself off the couch as Padme called them to leave, "I guess you're not completely off your starfighter if you at least see the light on that."

Standing, Acacia rolled her eyes and scoffed again. "Thanks a lot, Ani."

* * *

Even though she maintained her playful, joking banter around her brother, Acacia meant what she'd said. Working with Ferus wasn't exactly fun, but it was easier than the alternative. Fixing the ship, there was less pressure, less stress, yet it kept her mind just as busy.

Plus, Ferus didn't pry into her personal life. Though she sensed he wondered some things about them, he never asked about her and Anakin, why she lived with him rather than Obi-Wan, or if she and Anakin were even Jedi anymore. Instead, Ferus let her be, only telling her where to work, when to work, and when to stop. There in that mental blank space of constant occupation, she was safe. She didn't have to choose between her brothers, wonder what was right, or worry about what came next.

But she knew that couldn't last. Everyday, she woke up, looked at her picture, and thought of Tatooine. Everyday, she wondered if she'd focused her life on the wrong thing. Everyday, she wondered if it was time to return home.

Then she tucked the picture back in her tunic and moved on with her day.

* * *

Every once in a while, Anakin thought he sensed something off about his sister. It was never much: a slight twinge in her ForceMark, a momentary distance in her eyes, an occasional catch in her voice. He couldn't tell if there was an actual problem or if he was working so hard on their other problems, he'd started searching for signs in his sister that weren't there.

He didn't want to confront her; there might not be anything wrong and even if there was, he had no idea what it might be or what to ask her. But more than that, he feared _not_ confronting her. He feared letting whatever it was slide, and finding out weeks later that something had actually been wrong. He wouldn't make his sister think he didn't care.

Then again, especially after her Battle in the Lower Levels, Anakin could see that Acacia was growing up. Some things, she should probably deal with on her own.

But that didn't mean he had to like it, or that he had to let her.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey guys! I know this one's really short, but it's actually the second half of last week's chapter, and together, they're almost as long as my normal ones. So as always, thanks for reading and please review!**


	20. Chapter 18

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Chapter 18

When the Senate meeting let out early, all Anakin could do was thank the Force and sigh with relief. _One more to go,_ he thought, dragging himself from his chair and up the steps to meet Padme. _Just one more._

As relieved as he was that the torture of tedium would soon end, his mental respite didn't last. Another feeling nagged at him, one of incompletion, of failure. Nothing bad had happened during the meetings. In fact, in Anakin's opinion, nothing had happened at all. He'd sat at the computers and stared till his eyes felt drier than a sand dune, then kept right on staring because there was nothing else he could do. He even began to wonder if his Force-sensitivity had dulled; after all the action that past week, things couldn't just_ stop_ like this.

But because Padme remained safe (one upside to the endless monotony), Anakin knew his senses weren't wrong. On the dark side, he wasn't any closer to catching the spy than he'd been when they landed on Coruscant. Each day they went to bed and nothing had happened, a sort of relief blossomed, but it was soon choked by fear. Fear that he'd missed something, fear that, tomorrow, everything would change. Fear that he wouldn't see his mistake until a second too late.

Now the same feeling arose, stronger than ever. As Anakin crested the steps, met his wife's eyes, and forced the tiniest of smiles, he half-wished something would blow up already. At least then he'd have a situation to deal with and a culprit to chase.

But no such thing happened, and inwardly, Anakin admitted that he didn't really want it to. But what if they went through the meeting tomorrow and nothing happened? What if they had to return home with the spy still among them? What then?

The scariest part of all: he had no idea.

* * *

On the way back to the house, Anakin remembered what he used to do whenever he had a problem: fix something. Force, a few times he even broke something just so he could have the chance to fix it.

Well, lucky him, there was a large ship nearby that still required repair. Anakin never thought he'd be so grateful for an assassination attempt.

Besides that, he needed to check on Acacia. He'd decided not to confront her unless he was absolutely sure something was wrong or unless the not-knowing got to be too much for him. Still, he'd wanted to keep an eye on her whenever possible. But with her always at the hangar and him always at the Senate, that had been somewhat difficult.

The only downside to going was that he'd have to see Ferus. But for his sister and his own sanity, he would endure.

* * *

"Anakin!" His sister popped out of the ship with a grin. "I didn't know you were gonna come out today."

He shrugged. "I wasn't planning on it. But the Senate let out early, so I thought I'd come down and see how you were doing." He examined the ship for the first time. "Wow."

"Yeah." Acacia climbed down to stand beside her brother, beaming up at the work. "Not bad, if I do say so myself."

"Well, I probably could've done it better." Anakin smirked. "But you know, this is pretty good." He swallowed back the bitter taste when he realized he'd complimented Ferus as well. "Thanks." Anakin nodded at his former rival as he climbed out of the cockpit. "You've uh," He coughed, covered it by clearing his throat, then realized that only made it more conspicuous. "You've done great work, Ferus."

The other man smiled, which for him meant the corners of his mouth twitched up for half a second. "Thank you. I'm glad I was able to assist. Acacia" – He nodded at her as if they needed a reminder of whom they were talking about – "is really quite capable."

Anakin nodded again. He didn't know what else to say, so for once, he chose nothing. Instead, his eyes surveyed the ship, combing over every detail. From what he could see, almost everything was fixed; they had another day's work tops.

And he'd hardly done a thing.

"It's kind of amazing, though, isn't it?" Acacia bubbled. "I mean, I had no idea Ferus was any good with ships, much less that he could teach me about them."

"Yes," Ferus agreed, giving Acacia another tiny smile. "The strange part is, Anakin, you were always better than me at things like this. Who knew you'd come to me one day for mechanical repairs?"

Anakin's anger flared, but he tamped it back down. He knew better than to let Ferus get to him. He _did_. So he replied as smoothly as he could through gritted teeth. "Weird, right? But it's not that I can't fix it. I just don't have the time or materials at the moment."

Ferus nodded. "Of course." And though there was nothing in his tone to suggest sarcasm, something about the way the other man spoke still made Anakin bristle with annoyance.

"So." Acacia acted oblivious, but Anakin had a feeling his sister sensed what was going on. "You here to help, Ani?"

"Yes." He forced a smile and turned his back on his old rival. "Hand me a wrench, and tell me what's left to do."

* * *

Watching Anakin and Ferus attempt to work together would've been funny – if it wasn't so childish and if they didn't have way bigger things to deal with. Granted, Anakin caused more problems than Ferus did. He seemed to take offense at everything, hunting through Ferus' every word for insult, anger and darkness and almost-fear constantly simmering in his ForceMark. Acacia wondered what it was about the former Jedi that made her brother so insecure.

Still, Ferus didn't exactly help. After his failed attempt at a joke, he seemed even more uptight than usual, almost edgy around Anakin. It wasn't insecurity she sensed coming off of Ferus, but something deeper, more sensitive, and much more painful.

She wanted the chance to weasel it out of one of them. To understand what had happened between the two most talented padawans of their time. In the Order, that alone should not have been enough to make them enemies, and she wanted to uncover the full reason why Ferus and her brother had always been rivals.

That, though, would have to wait until she got one of them alone. Right now, she was too busy making sure neither one "accidentally" stabbed the other through.

* * *

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	21. Chapter 19

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Chapter 19

Because she was spending more time with him, Acacia decided to work on Ferus, though she wasn't sure how to squeeze information out of a man as tight-lipped as he was. The direct approach might work, but it also might make him clam up. The hinting approach had even less of a chance, though; Ferus was the sort of person who either didn't take the hint in the first place, or took the hint, examined it for a second, and gave it back.

So Acacia went for the confusing-and-hoping-he'll-let-something-slip approach.

"Ferus?" she said the next day while they were on a break.

"Yes."

"Did you know Anakin and I are siblings?"

Ferus spit out his water. "You're_ what_?"

She nodded. "Yup. Same mom, different dad. It's why I'm living with him now. Can I ask you something?"

"Wait, _what_?"

"Why don't you like my brother?"

"Why don't I... Acacia, can you slow down a moment?"

"I did slow down. I wasn't talking anymore."

Ferus wiped a hand across his face like that would erase all the extra details so he could focus on what was important. "It's not that I dislike Anakin. It's just... we've had our differences over the years."

"Well, that's descriptive. Thank you."

He sighed. "We've had disagreements since our first mission together. Everyone said we were both, well, extremely talented, so it seemed like we were always in competition. And Anakin always wanted to take it further than a friendly rivalry." Acacia wanted to argue on her brother's behalf, but that sounded too much like him.

"We just... clashed. And well, you were there for the mission Darra died." Acacia nodded, remembering the young padawan who'd been killed on Acacia's first mission with Obi-Wan and Anakin. "Things between us came to a head," Ferus went on, "and because of that, she died."

"It wasn't your fault," Acacia said, defending her brother more than the man in front of her. "It's not like you shot her."

"But we could've stopped it and we didn't." Ferus glared at the ground. "In a roundabout way, we killed her."

Halfway through his sentence, Acacia was already shaking her head. "Not true. Not true at all. Darra would agree with me."

"Perhaps."

Acacia waited for him to go on, but he didn't. So she eventually asked, "It's... it's why you left, though, yeah?"

He paused, then nodded slowly. "I couldn't stand that guilt. I knew that the Jedi could never be right for me, not with the way we'd _tainted_ things." Acacia bristled at the mention of "we," but Ferus went on like he hadn't noticed. "I saw Darra's face everywhere, but most of all, whenever Anakin was around." He let out a quiet self-mocking scoff, opened his mouth like he was about to say more, then stopped.

But Acacia thought she knew what he would've said, if he'd let himself continue._ I was escaping your brother as much as Darra._

"So I left."

"But what's that have to do with now?"

"Acacia." Ferus stood, turning his back to her. "I really don't think we should talk about this. Besides, we have to get back to work.

"We don't either. We've got an hour's worth of work tops, and more than that of daylight. Sit." To her surprise, he obeyed. "Explain."

To that, he didn't obey. Acacia wasn't sure why she was pushing so hard, but it was almost as if the Force was prompting her, as if they _needed_ this, both of them, to move on with their lives.

Besides, if Ferus was going to accuse her brother of murder and blame Anakin for his leaving the Order, she wanted the full story.

A few moments later, Ferus sighed and went on. "Over time, I met people, learned a new way of life, found fulfillment, and began to forget about the death we caused. But everytime I think of Anakin, or worse, _see_ him, there it is again. I wonder..." he whispered the last words, then clamped his mouth shut, as if he'd only then remembered that Acacia was still sitting there. Though unspoken, the words echoed between them._ I wonder if he feels the same way._

Acacia reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. For a moment, Ferus let it stay and she felt something shift in his ForceMark. Then he stood abruptly and strode back to the ship. Acacia followed.

The two remained silent until Anakin came by that evening. They were done by then, leaving nothing for him to help with, so after he inspected it, all three hopped into their speeders.

"Thanks again, Ferus," Anakin said, with a smile that was slightly less forced than all of his previous ones.

"It was my pleasure," Ferus replied, without fully looking at him.

Acacia paused, turning back to Ferus. After all the time she'd spent with him and all she'd learned about him today, she felt like she ought to say something, like "I'll miss you," or do something, like run over and hug him. But, though she didn't mind his company, she wasn't honestly sure how true the first one was. And the second one... well, way too many questions would follow that.

So she settled for a friendly wave, a smile, and a goodbye.

* * *

Later, when Acacia thought about their conversation, her brain didn't stick on Ferus and Anakin, but on how Ferus had felt after Darra's death. Trapped. Like he just couldn't live there anymore. Like he had to escape.

Day by day, a similar feeling had grown in her own chest. She'd tried to stop it, then to suppress it, then to simply ignore it. But all of those had failed.

Sure, her and Ferus' situations were remarkably different – no one she cared about had died recently, thank the Force – but she could relate to the feeling of being trapped. Of needing to leave, of a just plain _not-rightness_ that you can't quite identify.

It wasn't just about missing Owen anymore, though that was a large part of it. It wasn't just about missing Tattooine; she could learn to live without its wide-open skies and sparkling suns. It was about _her,_ lacking something where she was, _needing_ something she wasn't getting here with Anakin. She felt a restlessness she couldn't explain and wondered if this was what it meant to grow up.

If so, she didn't like it. But that didn't change the fact that the feeling was there.

Maybe that was why the Force had prompted her to talk to Ferus. Ferus had to release the pain and guilt he held inside, and Acacia needed to hear his words and seek her purpose elsewhere.

She had to get out, she knew that now. What she didn't know was how she would tell Anakin.

* * *

Acacia decided to go ahead and speak to Anakin as soon as possible. Now that she knew her path, there was no sense in delaying it. Yet the second she saw her brother the next morning, she chickened out. He was at the table, tinkering with a gadget in his metal arm, brow furrowed in concentration; but she knew without even reading his mind that whatever he was really concerned with, it had nothing to do with what he was working on.

She couldn't just up and leave him. Not like this.

So she pasted on a smile and sidled over. "Hey, Tinkerboy. Careful not to break anything important on that."

He rolled his eyes without even looking at her. "Morning, Caish."

"Whatcha thinking about?" she asked as she grabbed a bowl of cereal. "Something wrong?"

He raised his eyebrows, making brief eye contact. "You're not gonna just check my mind?"

Acacia shrugged. "Not today." Mostly because she didn't want him checking hers.

Anakin set down his screwdriver and sighed. "I wish you could've been at the meetings. Maybe you would've seen something I couldn't." He blew out another harsh breath, running a hand over his eyes, and Acacia saw the dark circles underneath them. How long had he sat out here, running over every detail of the days in the Senate, discovering nothing he didn't already know, torturing himself by doing it again?

"Why would I have caught something you didn't?" she asked, stirring the spoon in her cereal. "You're the Knight. Who the Council would've made Master." Y_ou don't need me. Please realize you don't need me._

Anakin shrugged. "I don't know. It would've been good to have an extra set of eyes, I guess. And besides," He gave her a tired smile and a wink. "you never cease to amaze me, Caish."

She forced a smile and swallowed around the lump in her throat. "You must be really tired."

He let out a chuckle that turned to a yawn. "I am. But you gotta have something, Squirt. I mean, you're battle in the Lower Levels is still attracting news."

Acacia frowned. "That is not a good thing."

"Don't worry about it." Her brother waved a hand. "Nobody knows for sure it was a Jedi, much less you specifically, and the myths are getting crazier by the day. Take a look." He turned the Net on to a tabloid channel discussing the specially-engineered lizard species that had a glowing blue light for a tongue and blaster-proof scales. Apparently, it was created and released by the rebels to kill clones.

Acacia couldn't help laughing. "That's insane."

"It's also leading news for anyone who cares about that sort of thing. And it's good for us because nobody's looking at you, and the rebels are still getting press. In fact," He stroked his chin, pretending to think deep thoughts. "I think we should have battles like that more often."

Acacia scoffed. "There are so many people – myself included – who would highly disagree. "

He nodded, closing the panel in his arm and tucking the screwdriver away in his belt. "That's because you're all boring."

She laughed again, even as the strange feeling twisted her stomach. How in the Galaxy could she just _leave_ him?

"So.. Ani," she said after a short silence. "What are you gonna about the spy?"

Her brother paused, and before he answered, Acacia had the distinct feeling that the honest truth was, "I have no idea." But he never got the chance to make something up. A light flashed on his belt, and a quiet beep rang through the room. Acacia leaned closer as her brother opened his comm. "Mr. Kerkin," Captain Typho said, using their pseudonym for Anakin. "There's someone here to see you."

Anakin frowned, and he and Acacia tensed, forgetting every other problem that had plagued their minds. "Who is it?" Anakin asked.

"Don't know. Says he's a friend. Here, I'll show you." Typho hit a few buttons, hooking the comm to the security camera. The hologram blinked, then staring up at them, was a familiar face framed with red-brown hair, set with twinkling gray-blue eyes. Anakin and Acacia grinned.

Obi-Wan.

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	22. Chapter 20

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Chapter 20

"Mr. Kerkin?"

Anakin grinned as he shook his old Master's hand. "Last part of my last name and the last part of my first name. It's good to see you, Obi-Wan."

The older man chuckled, but he had no time to reply, as Acacia was barreling over to throw her arms around his neck. Despite his surprise, Obi-Wan did manage to pat her on the back before she stepped away again.

"So what brings you to Coruscant, Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked as they went to the living room and sat down. "Seems a little reckless for you to come and see us."

"A little," his Master admitted. "But I was careful."

"Of course you were."

Obi-Wan smiled and shook his head. "To answer your question, though, I'm here on Council business."

"And that," Anakin said, pointing a finger at him, "takes all the fun out of everything."

"There've been some rumors," Obi-Wan went on, ignoring Anakin, "of a battle in the Lower Levels. Most of the witnesses concocted enough impossible theories that no one is truly concerned. But a few of them claimed to see–"

"A Jedi." Acacia interrupted with a nod. "We know."

"So it _was_ you two."

"Just me actually." And she explained what she'd been doing in the Lower Levels: the meeting of the Delegation, how they'd been ambushed, and how she'd won the battle with zero casualties.

When Acacia finished though, her Master wasn't exactly smiling. Obi-Wan rubbed his beard, not unlike Anakin had a few minutes ago, though Obi-Wan made the movement look more sophisticated and less silly. "You did well under the circumstances, Acacia, and I'm glad everyone made it out. But you should've waited, called the Council for help. That plan..." He shook his head. "It was too risky."

"It _was_ pretty gutsy, Caish," her brother agreed. "But there wasn't time to wait around and it did work. Besides, I'd've probably done the same thing."

"Well you two are certainly related," Obi-Wan said dryly. "But Acacia, try not to do something like that again."

The girl only half hid her smile. "I'll do my best."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I've left you with Anakin too long, haven't I?"

"No such thing, Master." Anakin grinned. "Where've you been all this time anyway?"

"Mostly the Outer Rim. I've been scouting out possible resistance groups and asking others to join our cause."

"Yeah?" Anakin nodded, suddenly serious. "How's that going?"

"It's slow, and less systems are gathering than I originally hoped. Apparently, Palpatine is far more convincing than we gave him credit for. Most of the worlds have bought into his lies, if only because they're tired of fighting and desire some semblance of safety."

Anakin glared at the table between them. "Even though it's a lie."

"Even though." Obi-Wan nodded. "If they hide in his lies, they don't have to fight – neither him nor anyone else. At the moment, that appears easier and safer. By the time they realize the truth, it may be too late."

A heavy silence sunk over the room, each of them stewing in their own concerns, before Acacia said, "Well, this conversation took a happy turn."

Her brother and her Master gave quiet scoffs and slight smiles, but, as they all saw the direness of the situation, they couldn't quite manage anything more.

"We have to believe we'll defeat him before them," Acacia continued. "Before it's too late. I mean, we're Jedi." She grinned, and it was only half-fake. "He doesn't stand a chance."

A smile slipped on her brother's face as well. "I knew I kept you around for a reason, sis."

Acacia rolled her eyes, ignoring the twinge in her chest. "Besides Sidious'll start taking people's kids soon. They won't stand for that."

Obi-Wan frowned. "Taking children?"

"Yeah, they just decided a few days ago. The Senate authorized the creation of some 'special academies' to train youth for the Empire. So basically, Sith schools."

"My." Obi-Wan's eyebrows shot upward. "I didn't know that was even being discussed. I've been in the Outer Rim too long."

"Yeah." Anakin gave a short, humorless laugh. "You may have missed out on some important stuff."

"Unfortunately, though," the Master said, "some people might not be concerned. After all, they gave their children to the Jedi."

Anakin and Acacia exchanged a look, like _Whoops, didn't really think of that._ Realizing that much of the Galaxy would still follow "the Emperor," even after he stole their children and brainwashed them into instruments of evil, made Acacia slightly sick and Anakin thoroughly furious.

Before he could do anything rash, Padme came in the room. "Obi-Wan," she said, her face lighting up. "How nice to see you."

"Padme." He smiled back. "It's good to see you, too"

As she came over and sat by her husband, the senator took in the scene. "Why all the long faces? Is there more bad news?"

Anakin filled her in on their discussion, and she nodded solemnly. "We fought it, but there are just too many people in the Senate willing to vote for whatever Palpatine proposes. And we can't push _too_ hard or they'll start to question us. Right now, that kind of questioning will get us killed."

Anakin rubbed her shoulders. "You did the best you could, Padme."

"Do you think..." Acacia wondered. "Well, do you think the Council could do something about it?"

Everyone looked at her. "What do you mean?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Well, couldn't they authorize some teams of Jedi to look into it? Maybe they could even sabotage the building or send spies to bring it down from the inside."

"Well, you'd have to wait till the academies actually start," Padme pointed out. "They've only just been authorized, so there's still several couplings he'll have to jump to actually get them up. But I doubt that'll be a problem for Palpatine."

Obi-Wan nodded slowly. "Still, I'll certainly bring the matter before the rest of the Council. You may be onto something."

"See?" Acacia grinned. "It's not a total loss."

This time, they all managed a chuckle. "It would seem not."

Yet, even as Obi-Wan spoke, Acacia's heart sank. She couldn't leave; she knew that now. No matter what she felt, she couldn't abandon the resistance. They needed her.

Well actually, they needed everyone they could get, but she was part of that everyone. Whatever was prompting her to return to Tatooine would simply have to wait.

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	23. Chapter 21

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Chapter 21

Since he didn't have to be back at the safehouses until the next morning, Obi-Wan stayed with them for the rest of the day. Sabe and Dorme had disappeared into the lower sections of the house, where the rest of the security team stayed, and the group of four had the top level to themselves.

"So, Obi-Wan," Acacia said, after he'd described his latest mission in depth, "you been back on Coruscant for a while?"

"A few days," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "I was just wondering if you'd made it down to the nursery yet. You know, to see Poluna."

"Who's Poluna?" Anakin interrupted, peeking out from the kitchen, where Padme had dragged him to help prepare dinner. "And why's Obi-Wan checking on her?"

"A little Utai girl I met on Utapau," Acacia said. "I took care of her while we were there, and afterward, we brought her to the safehouses because we thought she might be Force-Sensitive. I asked Obi-Wan to check on her, last time he visited us."

"I went down to see her yesterday," Obi-Wan answered as Anakin and Padme reentered. "She is indeed Force-Sensitive and she's adjusted well to her new environment."

"Good." Acacia nodded. "I'm happy for her."

At least someone was adjusting to a new life, Acacia figured, even if she wasn't one of them.

* * *

As they ate, Anakin told Obi-Wan about their lives recently, including the spy and the attack on their way to Coruscant. Obi-Wan frowned. "That's a pretty serious attempt. How did you escape?"

With no small amount of pride, Anakin told him, how he'd sensed the energy in the Force and somehow harnessed it, pulling it from the reactor core and slamming it into their enemies.

Obi-Wan's eyebrows kept rising and rising as Anakin spoke. "Impressive."

"Thanks. Though, honestly, I'm not even sure how I did it."

"Neither am I," Obi-Wan admitted. "I've never heard of anything like that."

As Anakin began to grin, Padme shook her head and Acacia groaned. "Please don't, Master. I do not need him getting a big head on me."

"Aw, Caish," Anakin protested – with a rather self-satisfied smirk, "give me a little credit."

Padme raised her eyebrows. "What for?"

Everyone burst out laughing, and even Anakin couldn't contain the smile tugging on his mouth.

"To be fair," Obi-Wan said, as their chuckles died down, "I think Anakin does deserve more credit than that. He's not nearly as arrogant as he used to be. Like when he was your age, Acacia."

The girl eyed her brother warily. "Am I glad I didn't know you then."

Obi-Wan held up a hand to stop an argument between the siblings. "Regardless of all that, this ability of yours, it is something we should look into. I'll examine one of the older holocrons we salvaged when I get the chance. There may be some ancient mention of it in there.

"Considering your reaction, though, I wouldn't suggest doing it again. Whatever you did with the reactor's energy, it seemed to siphon off some of your _own_ energy."

"I'm not entirely certain what that means," Anakin said, sobering slightly, "but it doesn't sound good."

"It isn't," Obi-Wan replied. "So for the time being, Anakin, do try not to let your reactor core get hit by your enemies."

Anakin smiled wryly, rolling his eyes, while Acacia, Obi-Wan, and Padme did nothing to hide their chuckles. "I shall try, Master."

* * *

The next morning, when Anakin went out to try his daily 2-minute attempt at meditation, he found that someone had already beaten him to it: Obi-Wan sat cross-legged on the balcony, half-hidden by shadow, half-lit by the rising sun, eyes closed as if he'd fallen asleep sitting up. Almost relieved, Anakin began to tiptoe away – but his Master's voice called him back: "Anakin."

The younger Jedi halted the sigh that rose in his mouth and turned around, hoping he was old enough now that Obi-Wan wouldn't make him join him. "Yes?"

Obi-Wan opened his eyes and stood, turning to face his former padawan. "There's something I want to talk to you about it."

The serious tone in his Master's voice told Anakin not to worry about forced meditation; Obi-Wan had something far more serious on his mind. "What is it?"

The older Jedi frowned, pursing his lips for a moment before he finally asked in an undertone, "Is Acacia all right?"

Anakin sighed, staring out at the sky, like he'd find the answer written in the clouds. "I've been wondering the same thing myself. Truth is, I'm not sure. One second, she seems totally normal, totally fine. The next I get this twinge of... something." He shook his head. "I don't know. But you sense it too?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "She's upset, restless." He allowed the tiniest of smirks. "Not unlike you were when you were younger."

"Thanks."

Obi-Wan smiled. "It might just be a phase, something she has to go through to grow up. All the same, if she doesn't talk to you about it soon, I think you should go to her."

"Sure you don't want to do that?" Anakin asked. "You being her Master and all?"

Obi-Wan's smile changed to something smaller, the turn of his lips wistful, almost sad. "Anakin, with as much time as you've spent with Acacia, you're as much her Master as I am now.

"Wait a while," he continued, before Anakin could comment on the former statement. "See if she comes to you. If not," His smile turned almost teasing. "Enjoy your long talk."

"Why do I get the feeling you're bailing just to avoid that?" Anakin asked, only half-joking as he imagined the myriad of issues that might bother a girl Acacia's age. Not for the first time, Anakin felt he might be just out of his element when it came to his sister.

Obi-Wan chuckled. "I have no idea."

* * *

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	24. Chapter 22

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Chapter 22

"Master Ani, Mistress Padme! Oh, and Miss Acacia! Welcome home!"

Anakin grinned at his old protocol droid. "It's great to be back, 3PO."

"Oh, Master Ruwee, Mistress Jobal, they have returned!"

"I can see that," Jobal said, striding in, one of the twins in her arms. The minute Anakin sensed his son's ForceMark, his heart jolted and his worries seemed to wash away, a strange contentment replacing them. He hadn't worried about the twins while they were gone (all the danger was on Coruscant, after all) but he'd still missed his kids, and seeing even one of them again gave him a peaceful feeling he rarely experienced. He'd never thought much about home planets – he could always change them as easily as he changed shirts – but returning to Naboo, seeing Luke in front of him, sensing Leia a room away, his own sister behind him, and his wife beside him, Anakin had the distinct feeling of coming home.

Apparently, Luke felt something similar. The minute Anakin laid eyes on him, the baby began to fuss, little arms and legs jerking, like he was trying to get to his father but couldn't quite reach him. So Anakin crossed the room in two steps and gently took his son in his arms. Immediately, Luke quieted.

Even Jobal had to smile.

"Thanks for watching them, Mama," Padme said, hugging her mother. "Have they been fussy?"

"Actually, no. They were angels up until this morning, when they both decided to have no end of fits. We only just got Leia down, and Ruwee's still with her. If he leaves, she screams. But it does makes sense now." She glanced at Anakin with skeptical approval. "They missed you."

"Well, why wouldn't they?" Acacia muttered, standing on her toes to look over her brother's shoulder at her nephew. "I gotta say, Ani, he _is_ adorable when he's sleeping. When he's spitting up all over me. Eh... not so much."

"Funny, Caish," Anakin muttered. Because really, it wasn't a fact he could dispute.

A quiet cry sounded farther down the hallway. "I'll go get her, Mom," Padme said, "and then we'll be out of your hair."

Jobal waved a hand. "Nonsense. You've had a long trip and you're all staying here for the evening. Besides, Sola and the girls are eager to see you. And Darred, too. I think he's off tonight."

Anakin sighed. And there went his sense of peace.

* * *

Since he was held captive at his in-law's house - and he'd been abandoned by his wife, his sister, and his droid - Anakin decided to sit on the couch and try to relax. Padme and Acacia were with Leia in the nursery, and 3PO had gone with Jobal to prepare dinner, so he and Luke could get some rare alone time.

The baby laid there, staring up at him with bright blue eyes, his little mouth open, cooing like he had a world of things to say but could say them only to his daddy. Anakin smiled down at his son, brushed the wisps of hair on his head, and slipped a finger into the baby's hand. Immediately, Luke closed his fist, barely making it around, but still, holding tight, refusing to let go. Though Anakin knew that, technically, this was only a reflex, it didn't change the fact that it felt like so much more.

"Special thing, isn't it?"

Anakin glanced up to see Ruwee standing in the doorway. Force. He'd been so fixed on his son, he hadn't noticed his father-in-law approaching.

On the bright side, it wasn't Darred.

The Jedi forced a smile. "Yeah," he said. "I guess it is."

Ruwee gave him the smallest of smiles, and strangely, it seemed genuine. "I've only had girls," the older man admitted, as he sat down beside them, "but I figure a little boy wrapping his hand around your finger's just the same. Nothing quite compares to it."

Anakin nodded in agreement, although really, he just wondered where all this was going, and exactly how much he'd dislike it when they got there.

"Look, Anakin, I'm a straightforward man. And I like you. No, really, I do," Ruwee insisted when Anakin raised an eyebrow. "You're a good man. Kind. And it's obvious you care for my daughter and your children.

"But you got to set your priorities properly. You're not a Jedi anymore, gallivanting across the Galaxy, saving all the worlds. You're a father." Ruwee nodded at Luke as if Anakin could've forgotten the warm little bundle in his arms. "And you need to act accordingly."

Okay, fair points all. But who said he couldn't do both: make the Galaxy safe for his son and still be the father the boy deserved? Why couldn't he protect him and prize him, shield him and love him at the same time?

Anakin guessed that, in Ruwee's mind, he'd just been given a perfectly good reason why doing both was impossible.

Then again, Anakin had always been a hardheaded individual, and he'd already decided to try.

* * *

Upon the arrival of the rest of the Naberrie clan, Anakin escaped to the old nursery. True, he'd never been one to run from a conflict, but any with Darred would be utterly useless, and he'd enjoy himself more with his children than he would defeating his brother-in-law in a battle of wits.

Because he _would_ win. Duh.

A few minutes later, Acacia found him. "Anakin, you've _got_ to do something about that guy."

"Darred?"

_"Yes._ He's been hounding me, _'Where's your brother at? Running as usual?'_" she mimicked. "Force, what is _wrong_ with him?"

"I think," Anakin said, scooping up a softly fussing Leia, "that a better question would be, what _isn't?"_

Acacia smirked, lifting Luke into her arms. "True." She glanced accusingly over her nephew's head. "But I see you managed to escape him."

Anakin shrugged. "Darred's not our main problem, and I don't have time to deal with anything that isn't."

Acacia raised her eyebrows. "Well, isn't that remarkably un-Anakin-like. You feeling okay?"

The Jedi rolled his eyes at his sister, then looked back at the baby he was rocking. "I guess I've just got my priorities straight."

"I suppose you're right." Acacia sighed. "I mean there _is_ our elusive spy."

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, though that wasn't what he'd meant, and he had a feeling she knew that.

But all his sister said was, "With all your amazing new skills, it's a pity you can't invent another one just for spy-catching."

He snorted. "Well, I probably wouldn't be able to use it. Seems like every time I discover a new power, _boom, _up pops a perfectly solid reason why I can never touch it again."

Acacia laughed. "Guess you're just unlucky like that."

Anakin leveled his sister with a Masterly glare. "There is no such thing as luck, young padawan. Only the Force."

Acacia laughed. "Yes, I'm sure. Huh," she added, cocking her head to one side.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." She shrugged. "I just wonder if that's the point."

"If what's the point?"

"The Force."

"Caish, if you're trying to be mystic just to get back at me..."

"Well, brother dear, it's not my fault if you can't follow," she replied. "But maybe that's the point. The Force, I mean. The thing with the Realm and the energy core, your 'cool new powers,' they're kind of similar aren't they? Both of them deal with harnessing something abstract: life energy and nuclear energy. You know, stuff you normally don't grasp exactly." She shrugged again. "It's a bit of a long shot, but maybe they both stem from the same thing."

"Strangely," Anakin said slowly, "that almost makes sense."

"Well, you _are_ the Chosen One." Acacia smirked, shifting Luke in her arms. "It'd be a shame if no perks came with the job."

Before Anakin could conjure a suitably sarcastic reply, Padme entered the room. "What are you two doing?"

"Hiding," Acacia replied innocently.

_Thanks a lot, sissy._

_My pleasure._

"Look, they're not _that_ bad," Padme said. "And besides, the twins are asleep now." She nodded at their closed eyes. "So really, you have no excuse."

The siblings exchanged a look and between their minds, invented fifty different excuses in five seconds flat. But it only took one mind to know better than to voice their reasoning, so Anakin and Acacia reluctantly replaced the twins in their cribs and marched off to face dinner with the in-laws, whatever horrors it might entail.

* * *

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	25. Chapter 23

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* * *

Chapter 23

Despite Padme's claims that her family was not "that bad," Darred ended up being bad enough for everyone. The evening stretched on for hours, his pointed comments becoming less and less vague as time went on, until finally, Sola stopped trying to steer the conversation back to polite territory, and just told Darred to be quiet and quit messing with Anakin already. Good husband that he was, Darred complied to his wife's request, but that didn't keep him from shooting Anakin dirty looks the rest of the evening long. Acacia watched her brother spend a third of the time ignoring Darred, another third glowering back at him, and the final third smirking, since most of the others were on Anakin's side.

When Padme finally announced that they really had to be going now as it was getting late and the twins needed to settle in their own cribs, Acacia didn't think she'd ever been more relieved.

* * *

Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last. The next two days on Naboo were, to Acacia, even worse than her time on Coruscant. She was back to babysitting, and as much as she loved her niece and nephew, that could only be compelling for so long.

She often thought of Obi-Wan on covert missions, hiding out on hostile planets, negotiating in rapid-fire wordplay with dignitaries all over the Galaxy. She thought of the other Actives infiltrating empirical circles, risking their lives to get justice for the Jedi. She thought of Kady and the Defenders off doing, well, whatever it was they were doing, undoubtedly something that would help their fight against the Emperor.

While she, Acacia, acted as an unpaid nanny and a sounding board for her brother's nutty ideas for capturing their spy.

_What if we created a truth serum and forced them all to drink it?_

_What if we had R2 follow each of them around until we found one of them meeting with Vade__r?_

_Hey, maybe we could round everyone up, tell them there's a spy, and threaten their families if they don't tell us the truth. We wouldn't actually hurt anyone, of course. But they don't know that._

Truth be told, she wasn't sure how things would get any better if she went to Tatooine. Even less happened there, and with the miles upon miles in between each farm, the most helpful thing she'd be able to do was write _"Palpatine is the bad guy!"_ in 50-foot letters on the endless sand.

Which actually might be fun. But would likely do little more other than make Palpatine _really_ want to kill her. Even more than he already did, that was

Then again, it wasn't action she craved, wasn't a thirst for adventure that made her jealous of the others. In fact, with all the battles she'd faced on Coruscant, one might think she'd had her fill for months.

It was so much more than that, though, more than action, more than wanting to get involved, more than a simple desire to actually act like a Jedi. Even while she'd been fighting, something nagged at the back of her mind until she finally acknowledged it, realized what she was missing: like Ferus had said, it was _rightness, belonging._ Like she'd felt when she first became a Jedi, knowing that she knew that she _knew_ that this was where she was meant to be and this was what she was meant to do.

When the Jedi were slaughtered and the Temple went up in flames, Acacia had lost that, that sense of direction and purpose. Worse, she'd lost her home and her family, even though both of her brothers remained alive.

Much as she adored Anakin's family, without the security she once found in the Jedi Order, Acacia felt lost, adrift, just another random being with nothing to do but eat, sleep, and die. Through the haze in her head, she could discern only one thing, _she didn't belong here._

Unfortunately, Acacia didn't know where she _did_ belong, and the only thing that made sense, to her anyway, was to return to her roots and hope they showed her where she might have gone wrong.

But she wouldn't do that, because Anakin needed her. Whatever she wanted, whatever she felt, Anakin needed her.

And that was enough to make her stay.

* * *

Still, it didn't stop the restless thoughts from returning. And after a few days with little to do but think, Acacia convinced herself that, even if she couldn't go back, it wouldn't hurt to comm Owen and Beru. After all, in the months since the Emperor's takeover, word about the Jedi must've reached even Tatooine by now. They'd likely heard that she and all the others had been marked as traitors and executed. Her brother and sister-in-law were probably worried sick about her, maybe even believed she was dead.

True, she hadn't exactly commed them often–or at all–when she was a Jedi, but this was different. It would be wrong, downright horrid in fact, for her not to contact them just to let them know she was alive.

And so she picked up her comm and called her old home.

"Owen?"

"Acacia? Is that.. Is that _you?"_

She smiled, slightly hesitant. "Yeah."

"Oh, thank the suns you're safe! Beru! Beru, it's Acacia!"

"What?" Acacia heard her sister-in-law's voice far across the farm. "My sands!" Beru said, as she rushed over and looked at the comm. "It _is_ you!"

Acacia's smile grew and she waved. "Hi!"

"Acacia, we've been so worried!" Beru said. "We only just got news about what happened to the Jedi. Are you all right?"

Acacia nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry I didn't contact you before. I got a new commlink, and then we were, well.." she trailed off, trying to think of the best way to say 'fighting for our lives, starting a resistance, and generally forgetting that you existed.'

"Doing Jedi stuff?" Owen asked sternly, almost as if it was a bad thing.

"Well, yeah," Acacia admitted, mentally adding,_ some of the time._

Owen sighed. "I _knew_ all that was dangerous." He paused, then added slowly, "It, it isn't true, though, is it?"

"That we're traitors? Of course not!"

"I didn't think so" He shook his head. "Maybe you should come home, Acacia. News travels slower in the Outer Rim; people are more willing to keep secrets. You'd be safer here."

As much as she ached to return, Acacia said, "They're more willing to divulge secrets, too, Owen. Think what would happen if the Hutts found me? I'm sure they'd be quick to hand me over to the Emperor." She went on, excuses coming to her mind only as they spewed from her mouth, "They'd burn down the farm, and maybe kill both of you."

Owen shook his head. "No one around here knows you became a Jedi; we don't get names like that out here. You could hide."

Acacia sighed. "Maybe. But still. I can't just leave." _No matter how much I want to._

Owen frowned, then nodded slowly. "I know. I don't understand it, but I know you. You can't abandon this cause of yours." He half-rolled his eyes, sighed again, then looked straight at her. "Just be careful, all right?"

Acacia forced a smile. "Thanks, Owen. I'll do my best. And don't worry, I'm a Jedi now." She winked. "I can take care of myself."

"Acacia, I really hope you're right."

_Me, too._ She opened her mouth to add something more encouraging than that, when "Acacia?"

"That's Anakin," she told her other brother. "I have to go," For some reason she couldn't explain, Acacia preferred to keep her brothers separate. Though they'd known each other before she was even born, their personalities kinda clashed and, sometimes, they even fought over her. Besides, she didn't need Anakin knowing how homesick she felt. He had bigger worries.

Owen didn't ask any questions, though. Instead, he just nodded. "All right. Comm me if you need anything."

"And know the farm is always open if you want to come home," Beru added.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Acacia grinned and it felt real. "Thank you."

* * *

Anakin watched his sister closer than she realized. Throughout those few days, he sensed her lostness, her confusion, her turmoil, and on a certain level, he related. More than that, he cared about Acacia and he wanted to help her, to somehow relieve her restlessness. She'd always been there for him these last four years, and he hadn't even realized how much he'd grown to depend on his little sister.

It wasn't fair to Acacia, though, to give her so much responsibility, so much _duty,_ and never even wonder how she felt. Never even ask about the toll it took on her.

He'd promised he'd look out for her. He'd promised he'd do better.

Spy or no spy, that started now.

* * *

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	26. Chapter 24

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Chapter 24

Anakin had no idea how to start the conversation with his sister because he wasn't sure what the problem was. The Force told him it had something to do with homesickness, but that didn't make any sense. Caisha's home was here, with him, Padme and the twins. What other home could she be missing?

_The Temple?_ Maybe she was still upset, still grieving. Maybe instead of dealing with her emotions, she'd buried them like he used to think he had to, and now they were all just boiling over.

Great. He had a starting place. From there, Anakin intended to do what he always did: dive in headfirst and hope for the best.

So that evening after he and Padme had put the twins to bed, Anakin left his wife reading some political nonsense and went to see his sister. At the last second, he decided not to burst into her head, but knocked on her door and called her name instead. "It's open." Came the call back, so he entered.

Acacia smiled like she always did, but there was something that wasn't like the usual at all. He noticed she was holding her commlink, flipping it over in her hands, and she seemed so far away, like she'd gone somewhere he couldn't reach.

Anakin shook off that idea. His sister would never be so far that he couldn't reach her.

"Hey, Caish," he said, sitting on the bed beside her.

"Hey, Ani." She glanced over at him, the sad smile slipping into something slightly confused. "Is everything okay?"

"I was gonna ask you that actually."

Acacia raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Anakin paused, then dove. "Acacia, are you okay?"

She blinked, and even without looking into her head, Anakin saw the tumult in her heart. How, for just one second, she was going to spill it all, tell him everything like she used to.

Then she closed off. "Of course, Ani. I'm totally fine," she lied – while putting up a mental block so he couldn't see the truth.

Anakin shook his head. "Caisha, I've known there was something up with you for weeks. Even Obi-Wan noticed it when he came by. So fess up. What's the problem?"

Acacia frowned, staring at the floor. "Obi-Wan noticed?"

"Yeah. And he told me to talk to you if you didn't come around soon."

She scoffed. "So _that's_ why you came? Because your Master told you to?"

_"No,_ I only mentioned him so you'd know that we're Force Masters, and you're not fooling anyone." Acacia rolled her eyes, and Anakin sensed her annoyance, so he plunged on before she could stop him. "I came to talk to you because I promised I'd watch out for you. That I wouldn't make you feel less again."

Acacia still didn't look at him. She just said, "Oh," to her shoes.

"Come on, Caish." He bumped her shoulder. "Tell me all your troubles." Anakin tried for a joke, but his sister didn't laugh. Instead she shrugged him off and shook her head. "I'm fine, Ani."

"No, you're not and we both know it. Quit lying."

She sighed. "Fine. I'm _not_ fine. But I'll _be_ fine eventually and you wouldn't understand anyway."

For a moment, Anakin wondered if he ought to get Padme for this discussion. If this was gonna turn into a girl-talk thing...

But Acacia suddenly laughed. "It's not what you're thinking, Anakin."

"Wait, you're allowed to read my mind, but I can't read yours?"

She shrugged. "You're the one who didn't block me. Besides, like I said, it's not a girl-talk thing. You just... you wouldn't get it. Even if I did show you."

"Then make me get it."

"It's just–" She cut herself off, sucking in a deep breath like she had to keep herself from going too far. "I'm feeling a little... lost, is all." She scoffed, shaking her head. "It sounds so stupid when I say it that way."

Anakin was careful not to mentally agree in case she heard him and clammed up completely. After several seconds of silence, during which he sorted through memories of Obi-Wan's lessons on tact (most of which he'd ignored), Anakin said, "What do you mean by lost?"

"Like... I don't know. I just feel like I'm doing something wrong. Like I'm not where I'm supposed to be or doing what I'm supposed to do."

Anakin squinted. "Is this about the babysitting?"

"No. Yes. Ugh, it's complicated! I told you you wouldn't understand."

"And I told you to make me. Whack me over the head if it'll help me get it, Caish."

His sister laughed, and Anakin secretly congratulated himself as she finally relented. "When I joined the Jedi, I knew absolutely, positively, beyond the shadow of a doubt that I was in the right place. I don't feel that way now. I mean, you, right now," Acacia turned towards her brother. "You feel like you're exactly where you're meant to be, right? Like you're home?" When Anakin hesitated, she rolled her eyes. "Just admit it, Ani, I know it's true."

So he nodded. "Yeah, I do feel that way. But Caish, it's your home too."

"I _know_ that," she whispered, turning away again. "I _do."_ But Anakin sensed it was herself she was trying to persuade, and that she didn't feel it as firmly as she claimed.

Anakin wanted to fix things, to make her better. But he had no idea how. Unlike when he began the conversation, he didn't have a starting point anymore. And winging it? Yeah, not really working at the moment.

"That," Acacia said, breaking the silence. "is exactly how I feel."

"What is?"

"Like I don't have a starting point anymore. A point of reference to know which direction I'm supposed to go in. No offense, Ani, but it's like I'm just... following you around. I'm not doing anything. Not for me, anyway." She shook her head. "Nope, that came out wrong. Stars, I sound like a spoiled brat." She sighed. "Maybe it would be easier if I just showed you."

"Um, yeah. I'm kinda thinking it would."

"Fine, then. Here goes." Down came the mental block, and out flowed every one of her emotions, flooding into his mind. All the confusion and restlessness and lostness he'd sensed in her, he felt it again only a million times magnified.

And almost all of it stemmed from the loss of the Temple. He watched Acacia look on as the others – Obi-Wan, her best friend, Kady, Anakin himself, even the baby Poluna – settled into their new lives post-Temple. And he saw his sister floundering, desperately searching for a handhold, trying to discover where she fit into this mixed-up, messed-up Galaxy, this all-new game Sidious had cruelly tossed them in.

Like she'd said, she'd lost her starting point, and now she was lost somewhere in the middle, unsure of where to land or where to go next.

And then amidst it all, he saw one shining word, _Tatooine._

"Tatooine?" Anakin pulled back, sucking himself out of his sister's head. "Why do you want to go _there?"_

_Wrong answer._ He knew it immediately in the way she became defensive, shoulders hunched, eyes darkened, eyebrows pulled low over her face. "Did you miss everything I just showed you?"

"No, and that bit I almost understand, believe it or not. But what's Tattooine got to do with anything?"

"It's our starting point, Ani. Mine and yours."

"Well yeah, but some starting points are better left behind, Caish. What's good on that worthless ball of sand anyway? Mom's dead, your dad's dead." They'd discovered that during the Clone Wars, when the two of them briefly visited to the farm while looking for an outlaw in the area. "What's left?"

"Owen and Beru are there, you know," Acacia said, her voice steely, glaring at the ground rather than at him.

"Right. Sorry. I forgot."

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm sure you did." Anakin resisted the urge to ask exactly what she meant by that. For once, he was trying to use discretion and he figured heading down that road would only make them both angry which would completely defeat the purpose of this conversation.

"Caish, I'm sorry. Really."

"I know."

An uncomfortable pause that stretched on far too long. "So... you want to go back to Tatooine because you feel like your roots are there?"

"I don't know, Ani. Maybe it's the Force, maybe I'm just crazy. But I feel like I'll find something there. Something important. Something that'll help me... find me. Force, that sounded–"

"Kinda dumb?" Anakin finished, hoping for a smile.

For once, he got what he hoped for. "Gee, thanks," she replied dryly. "So you mean it sounded like you?"

Anakin chuckled along with her, stuffing his sarcastic reply in favor of the shaky understanding he and his sister were coming to.

They sat in silence for another few moments, neither quite sure where to go from there, until Anakin finally said. "So you want to go back to Tatooine?"

"Yup," she replied the last letter popping on her lips, like she was releasing something to him.

"Well, I can't take you now. Obviously. Spy stuff, Senate stuff, Sidious stuff, all that."

She sighed again. "I know it."

"Hear me out, Caish. I'm not gonna pretend to get all of this, but I can see it's important to you. So help me figure out this spy thing, and I promise I'll take you back to the farm myself."

Acacia spun on him, violet eyes wide in surprise. "Are you _serious?"_

"Hey, do I look like I'm kidding?" Anakin grinned. "Like I said, Caish, this is important to you. So after we get this spy and throw them in jail forever, I'll take you to Tatooine. Hey, maybe we'll even bring Padme and the twins, make a family trip out of it."

Acacia grinned, throwing her arms around her brother. "Oh, thank you, Ani!"

"No problem, Squirt." She pulled back to punch him in the arm, and he laughed. "Who's the best big brother ever?"

Acacia rolled her eyes. "You know I can't answer that."

"What Owen doesn't know won't hurt him."

They chuckled again, Acacia shaking her head at his silliness, but laughing with more genuine joy than Anakin had seen in her in a long time. "You're bad."

"Very. But Caish, while I sort of understand that you're... you're searching or whatever – I can't say this without sounding stupid, so don't laugh – you know you do always have a place here with us?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I know."

"Great. We're good then?"

Acacia nodded once. "Very."

"Great." Anakin stood to his feet. "See you in the morning."

"The morning," she agreed. "And then we get started."

* * *

And with that, Anakin watched Acacia throw herself into the chase like she never had before. He didn't know for sure if it was their talk, the promise of return to Tatooine, or both, but Acacia seemed happier, more comfortable, more vibrant and alive than he'd seen her since... well, since before the Emperor stole their home and family by burning the Temple and slaughtering the Jedi.

At the time, Anakin had felt his own level of pain of course, but truthfully, he'd already been on his way out from the Order. He'd never stopped to think, though, what a toll the whole ordeal had taken on his sister, just how much pain Sidious caused her. The very thought made Anakin want to Force-Choke the life right out of him.

At the moment, the young Jedi found himself with a long list of to-dos: be a great dad, husband, and brother; help train his wife and his sister; find their spy; eventually take Acacia to Tatooine...

But inching its way onto the list was _Make Palpatine pay._

He felt the anger stirring deep within him, but he knew better than to give it too much control. That was the way to become just like Sidious after all, which would more or less defeat the purpose. But, though he had to force himself to ignore the anger, that didn't mean the reason behind it could be forgotten.

Sidious had caused him and his family worlds of pain. When the time came, Anakin would deal that back a hundredfold.

_But it shouldn't be about revenge,_ a voice – not Acacia's – gently reminded him. _It's about the good of the Galaxy, and those in it._ That_ is the Jedi way._

Anakin nodded to himself. Of course it was. He knew that.

Unfortunately, it didn't change the fact that revenge was what he wanted.

* * *

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	27. Chapter 25

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* * *

Chapter 25

After thinking it over, Anakin decided he'd taken the completely wrong approach in searching for their spy: he'd been looking at what he did know, not what he didn't. For instance, he knew that most of Padme's security went their separate ways during their off-time, returning to normal family life, even working other jobs. What he didn't know was which one of them had an "other job" spying on Padme for Sidious. What he needed to know was what their spy was doing every second they weren't in sight. And there was only one plausible way Anakin could think up to do that.

"Tracker program, huh?" Acacia said, as she concentrated in the Force, twirling three tiny balls in the air at the same time. "It's not a horrible idea, but I'll ask the same question I did last time: how would you make it work? I mean, how would you get it on her security without them knowing? How would you make sure it stayed on?"

"Well... I haven't actually figured _all_ of that out yet."

Acacia smirked. "Now _there's_ a shock."

Anakin ignored her and continued. "I think it's our only choice, Caish. We can't just sit around, waiting for them to try to kill us again. We have to take the fight to the Sith."

His sister paused in her juggling. "Hold up. Waiting around isn't exactly what we've been doing–"

"Beside the point, Caish. The point is, I think it'll work. See, a life support system like Vader's suit would give off certain electrical charges. So my tracker program will work like a bug on the security team's commlinks: besides tracking all their comms, it'll read electrical frequencies and charges, then, if it reads one like what should be coming off of Vader's suit, it'll ping me with the details. You know, who it was, where they were." _At least, that's what it's supposed to do_, Anakin added mentally. So he hadn't quite perfected it yet. He would.

Acacia snickered at the last bit, but still nodded. "I gotta say, Tinkerboy, I'm impressed. How in the stars do you know all that?"

Her brother grinned. "I was looking for ideas and one found me. Then I took a card out of Obi-Wan's datapad and did some research to make sure it would work."

Acacia giggled. "Poor you. That must've been so difficult."

"Downright horrifying."

She shook her head, and went back to spinning balls. "I do have one question, though."

"Yeah?"

"How are you gonna get the program on their commlinks? I mean, Padme's security is scattered all over the planet. Which, in hindsight, might not be the best idea."

Anakin shrugged. "Trust is the way of the Naboo. But still, that's the easy part. Every week, all of Padme's security meets with Typho at the Theed Capital Building. Kind of a check-in to make sure they're up to date on everything and, probably, to make sure they haven't fled the planet with Padme's deepest secrets. So I guess trust is the way of the Naboo for every Naboo except Typho.

"Anyway, their next check-in is the day after tomorrow. We can tag them all then."

"I repeat, how?"

"To get into the Capitol Building, they have to have these security tags installed on their comms–"

"So you're gonna broadcast the program as they're entering and tag each of their tags." Acacia nodded. "All right, I gotta admit, that's not as dumb as I thought it would be. Have you talked to Padme about it yet?"

"About the program? No. I asked her about her security, though. That's how I found out about the check-ins. Why?"

"I don't know." Acacia shrugged. "I just don't know how much she'd like it."

Anakin frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, haven't you noticed how she gets when we're talking about the spy? She kind of... I don't know, _bristles._ I don't think she wants to believe it. That she has a spy, I mean."

Anakin paused, his frown turning from confused to incredulous. "But she _has_ to."

"_I_ know that, and _you_ know that, but I think she just wants to trust her people."

"But she _can't."_

"Well, Ani, try telling her that and let me know how it works out for you." Her brother started to say something, but Acacia went on, "Look Ani, these are her friends. It's gotta be hard to think that someone she trusts with her life is trying to end it. I mean, that's probably why she hasn't kept them from returning to their normal lives. Or decided to track them already."

Anakin nodded slowly, understanding. But that didn't change the fact that there _was_ a spy, that someone on Padme's team, someone who claimed to care about her, was malicious enough to try to kill her. And it didn't change the fact that he had to find out who it was and take care of them.

As if on cue, his wife walked into the living room right then. "Anakin." She beamed, and in spite of his current worries, he grinned back. "Hey, Padme."

She looked at him for a minute, then nodded, still smiling. "I was pretty sure you'd forgotten, but that's okay." She handed him a tiny box and kissed him on the lips. "Happy anniversary, my love."

Acacia made a choking sound, but Anakin ignored her because one, he was kissing his wife and that was intoxicating enough to make him forget just about anything. And two, he had forgotten about the anniversary and since it happened before the kissing, he couldn't even use that as an excuse.

Crap.

Anakin flipped the box over in his hands without opening it. "Um, Padme..."

She laughed. "Ani, I already know you forgot. It's okay. Just open it."

Anakin didn't think he'd ever seen his wife quite this kind of excited; in fact, Padme was almost giddy. Still, her enthusiasm was catching, so, grinning now, Anakin flipped the top of the box and looked inside.

Sitting between two small sheets of velvet, was a silver ring; streaks of blue dashed along the top and bottom, the same color as his lightsaber, the same color as his eyes. Engraved on the inside, were a lightsaber, the symbol of the Galactic Republic, and, between them, written in Padme's own lovely script, were the words,_ My love, the Force is with us._

"You gave me a ring," Padme said, touching the one she wore around her neck next to the japor snippet he'd carved so many years ago. "But I never got you one, so I had this made by a friend. We've been married four years now." She shrugged. "Seemed about time."

Anakin took the ring and slipped it on his finger. "Thank you, angel." He kissed her. "It's perfect.

"And even though I did forget, I'm still going to do something for you."

Padme raised her eyebrows. "Should I be worried?"

Anakin grinned. "Oh, yes."

"Guess you don't need my help today then?" Acacia asked, when Padme had left the room.

"Quite the reverse, sis." Anakin smirked. "Our schedule just got completely full."

* * *

Because he was determined to find this spy of theirs and provide Padme with wonderful anniversary and because he saw no reason why he couldn't do both, Anakin Skywalker did both. He roped Acacia (who roped Sola) into setting up a traditional Nabooian dinner and baby-sitting the twins for the evening. Meanwhile, he spent the rest of the day working on the tracker program and making sure the dinner was absolutely perfect.

Evening fell before he knew it, but the trackers were finished and the dinner set. After sending the Luke and Leia off with their aunts, he and his wife found themselves alone in their home for the first time since before the twins' birth. Anakin was wearing the fanciest, itchiest outfit he'd ever had the stupidity to put on, but as he gazed at Padme, wearing a rich blue and purple dress, beaming at him from across the table, Anakin found that he suddenly didn't mind his suit so much.

"Ani, how?" Padme laughed as 3PO and R2 laid the beginnings of a traditional Nabooian four-course feast before them. "How did you come up with all this?"

"Ask no questions, Padme." He winked. "Just enjoy it."

His wife smiled, knowing perfectly well that he hadn't come up with this by himself, but not caring in the least. For a few moments, the two of them pretended to be a normal couple, rather than a rebellious senator and a rogue Jedi, celebrating their fourth anniversary. They ate and they laughed and they talked about the twins and how much they'd developed and how beautiful they were, and _"no, they look like you"'s_ were extensively exchanged.

Eventually, the topic of conversation moved to Acacia. As they finished their third course, Anakin gave Padme a rundown of his and his sister's conversation a few nights before, how lost and restless Acacia felt and how he'd promised to take her to Tatooine. At the time, Anakin hadn't actually thought about what his wife might think about that, so he had only a second to think, _Oh, crap,_ before she nodded, and his trepidation turned to relief.

"That's a good idea," Padme said, after swallowing a piece of five blossom bread. "Acacia should get the chance to return home. She's been through a lot lately."

"I know." Anakin nodded his own agreement. "I'm thinking I'll take her after this is all over."

As she raised her wineglass, Padme raised her eyebrows. "After what is all over?"

"Well, after we find the spy of course."

Silence. Padme frowned, and Anakin was just beginning to realize he'd said something wrong, when his wife said slowly, "Anakin, I'm not sure we actually have a spy."

He paused, trying to think of a tactful way to reply. He came up with: "Padme, how could we _not?"_

"Ani, the people on my security team have been with me for years. I trust them all; I know they wouldn't betray me."

"But Padme only someone you trust would have the kind of information our assassins have managed to get."

"It doesn't _have_ to be someone in my inner circle."

"Well, yes it does," Anakin said, giving up on tact. "Because even if no one directly in your inner circle is trying to kill us, someone in your inner circle is feeding information to someone outside your inner circle. Either way, we have a problem. I mean, what about what Choler said?"

"About the spy being in a Nabooian Senate cloak? That could've been a lie. Besides, it's not impossible to get those. Difficult yes, but not impossible."

"Be that as it may, Padme. Only people on your security team knew what route we were taking to Courscant. How else could someone have tried to shoot us out of the sky? And what about you and Acacia getting attacked in the Lower Levels?"

"We weren't the only ones who knew about that meeting. Someone else might've told the clones our location."

"Okay, _maybe._ But we'd still have a spy _somewhere,_ Padme, all of the evidence points to it. Someone you trust isn't trustworthy."

His wife sighed, running her fingers through her hair. After several moments of silence, in which Anakin wondered if he'd pushed a little too far, Padme finally said, "I know. It's just that, Anakin, every person on my security team has been with me since I was Queen. I've known some of them since our school days. So why now? Why all of the sudden?" _Why at all?_

Though she kept her tone emotionless, Anakin could sense the hints of hurt and betrayal in her ForceMark. He sighed, wishing he'd never brought this up, wishing they didn't have a spy, wishing they could go on pretending for just a few more minutes. "I don't know, Padme. But the only other explanation is that we've got a serious bug on our comms or security systems. And I've already checked those. The only thing left..."

"Is the people." Padme sighed again, then shook her head, seeming to resign herself, though reluctantly, to the truth. "I'll have to send one of my oldest friends to jail, won't I?"

Tentatively, Anakin nodded. "Yeah, Padme, I think you will.'

His wife picked at what was left of her food, and Anakin remembered what he'd told his sister earlier, _Trust is the way of the Naboo._ If what he was sensing in his wife's Forcemark was any indication, when that trust was broken, it caused pain of the highest degree.

Her pain made him furious.

"Do you have any ideas for catching the... the spy?"

Anakin nodded slowly, forced himself out of his angry thoughts, and explained his idea about the tracker program, though with much less enthusiasm than he had to Acacia that morning. When he finished, Padme nodded. "That could really work."

"Yeah, I guess it could," he agreed. "But, you know, we might find that you're right. Maybe I didn't look hard enough on all the systems..."

Even as he lied, Padme shook her head, "No, Anakin, you're right. Whether I want to believe it or not, someone I trust isn't trustworthy. You find the spy, and I'll bring them to justice."

She squared her shoulders, looking her husband in the eyes. "You do your duty, and I'll do mine."

* * *

And so two days later, Anakin and Acacia were in the control room at the Theed Capitol Building, tagging comms. By the end of the day, they'd gotten everyone even remotely associated with Padme.

Except one.

Just as they were about to sneak out, Acacia noticed something on their name chart. "Hey, Anakin, look at this. There's a name on the list that hasn't been marked."

Her brother spun back. "What?"

"Yeah." Acacia nodded. "Somebody didn't check in."

It could mean a lot of things. Maybe they'd accidentally missed a name. Maybe whoever hadn't come was sick or dealing with personal issues. Maybe they had even forgotten.

_Or maybe they're otherwise occupied._ "Well, Caish, who is it?"

His sister shook her head. "Anakin, it's Dorme."

* * *

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	28. Chapter 26

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Chapter 26

Anakin's eyebrows shot up so high, they nearly leapt off his face. _Dorme?_ But that was _crazy._ Dorme had been with them since the beginning and she'd proven her loyalty many times–from Anakin and Padme's secret meetings during the Clone Wars to helping them fight the Sith even now. Padme once said that she and Dorme had been best friends since childhood.

So why would _Dorme_ of all people be the traitor?

"Maybe she isn't," Acacia objected. "Her not showing could mean all kinds of things."

Anakin nodded–but he didn't agree. "Call Typho up. I need to know if we're clear to go." Though the Naboo were friendlier to the Jedi than they were to Sidious, it wasn't exactly safe for Anakin and Acacia to simply stroll through their capitol building. However, as one of the heads of security, not just for Padme but Naboo as a whole, Typho had managed to smuggle them in that morning. It was partially his job to ensure the control room was manned at all times, so when he'd heard about Anakin's plan, he arranged to switch days with one of the other security heads, thus allowing him to sneak the two Jedi into the control room and cover up their presence throughout the day.

Less than a minute after Acacia commed him, Typho burst into the control room. Though he already knew Dorme hadn't been in that day, he checked the list like he couldn't believe without seeing it on paper. Sighing, he said, "We should comm her before we jump to any conclusions."

Anakin nodded again, though he knew that, if Dorme was the spy, she'd either ignore the comm or present a perfectly good reason for why she'd missed the meeting. No, comming wouldn't do much now. He finally had a lead and he intended to follow it.

_Give him a minute, Ani,_ his sister said, and Anakin recalled the talk he'd had with his wife on their anniversary. Padme had been so upset, so desperate to believe that none of her own would betray her. _Trust is the way of the Naboo._ If Dorme was the spy, Anakin didn't know how he'd tell Padme.

So the Jedi waited while Typho tried every conceivable method to contact Dorme. She didn't reply. Typho even commed Sabe, one of her closest friends, to see if she had any idea where Dorme might be. "I'm sorry," Sabe replied. "I don't know. Although, I believe I recall her saying she had another meeting sometime today."

_With Vader? _Anakin wondered.

After they ended Sabe's comm, Typho, Anakin, and Acacia exchanged looks. "You should drop by her house," Typho said finally, "see what's going on, if you can pick up any clues." A beat of a pause before the guard added, "I guess I don't have to tell you to be careful."

Acacia gave a half-hearted smirk as she and her brother headed out. "With us, it's never bad to have the reminder."

* * *

Outside the Capitol Building, the siblings climbed into their speeder–a closed-top so no one could see who they were–and flew for Vys, the middle-class town where Dorme lived. They spent the first half of the ride in silence, contemplating the implications but trying not to get ahead of themselves, attempting to stay objective so they could judge what they found fairly.

For all their attempts, they found it all nearly impossible.

"I don't know, Ani," Acacia said after a while. "It just doesn't make sense for Dorme to be the spy. She's too... _nice._ And quiet. And proper. I'm pretty sure she'd think being a spy is too base a career for her."

"I don't disagree, Caish," Anakin said, glaring out the windshield. "But that's exactly what would make her a good spy. You're not _supposed_ to suspect them. Them being spies and all."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It just doesn't seem _right,_ is all."

Anakin scoffed. "What about spying is ever right, Caish? Besides, we don't know for sure it's her yet. We're just going to her house to check things. Gather some clues and make sure she's okay."

Acacia rolled her eyes. "I can read your mind, Ani. I know you suspect her."

"Caish, the whole reason we're going out there is that her not checking in is suspicious."

"Well yeah, but that's the other thing. If she _is_ the spy, she's done a darn good job of it so far. So why the screw-ups all of the sudden? Why miss the meeting and tell Sabe about another one? How could she make mistakes that big?"

Anakin shrugged. "I don't know, Caish. But I intend to find out."

"Yeah." The girl nodded. "Me, too." A second later, Acacia perked up, eyes widening. "Anakin... what if it's not a mistake?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's like I said, why not keep up appearances? Why reveal herself now when she's doing so good? Because it's not a mistake; it's all part of their plan."

"You think there's gonna be another attack," Anakin stated, as the logic of it dawned on him.

"I think there definitely could be."

Anakin pounced on the brakes, ignoring the shock from his sister and the few drivers around him. He and Acacia couldn't _not_ check out their lead with Dorme. It was the best they'd had since this whole thing started; who knew what it could lead to?

Then again, he also couldn't leave his wife and children unprotected.

"Contact Padme," Anakin instructed as he started the speeder again. "Let her know someone might attack. Then get Typho. Let him know what's going on and tell him to get to the house _now."_

Acacia nodded, whipped out her comm, and started dialing. True, they might be overreacting. It might turn out that this was nothing, that Dorme wasn't their spy and she had a perfectly good reason for skipping today's meeting. It was true that, in a few hours, Anakin and Acacia could be right back at square one.

But it was also true that after everything they'd been through, they knew better than to take that chance.

* * *

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	29. Chapter 27

**Sorry I missed last week! This chapter took longer to edit than I thought it would :p Anyways, hope you enjoy! :D**

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Chapter 27

Luckily, Dorme had few neighbors. Vys was a quaint, quiet neighborhood, one of the first human settlements on Naboo, and even thousands of years later, its residents valued the antiquity of the landscape, choosing to keep their residings groomed and beautiful, but as old-fashioned as the day they were built.

By the look of it, Acacia figured they valued their privacy just as much. The quarter-mile spaces between each lot and the old-wood fences around each property clearly stated that these were not people to be bothered. It was the perfect neighborhood for someone who didn't want others to know what they were doing.

_For instance, a spy,_ Acacia thought ruefully. She looked over at her brother, who nodded as he stopped their speeder, the only vehicle out for more than a hundred yards in both directions. "Is she even home?"

Anakin paused, searching the Force. "Maybe. I think I sense a life form in there, but I'm not sure."

Acacia raised her eyebrows. "Are you serious? You can sense that from here?"

Her brother smiled and winked, but they both knew it was half-hearted. "I'm talented like that, sis. You ready?"

She shrugged. "As I'll ever be."

The siblings didn't bother with sneaking; they just walked right up to Dorme's fence, keeping their heads down, hoods up, and senses alert. Like everything else in Vys, the gates looked pretty old-fashioned, styled to seem thousands of years old, like simple wooden boards stacked beside each other. Still, Anakin knew there had to be _some_ sort of security measures, and he had no desire to sense a hidden gun after it came out and started shooting at him.

As he considered the odds of climbing the fence, Acacia's voice sounded in his head. _Anakin, look._

_What?_

Before he could tell her not to, Acacia laid her hand against the gate and it swung silently forward. _It's open._

The two exchanged a look. _No way is that a good sign,_ Acacia whispered as they closed the gate behind them and continued forward.

Now the sneaking began. Crouched low, the siblings canvassed the cottage, scanning the silver stone pathway, the perfectly pruned garden, the manicured vines creeping up the yellow-white walls. But, other than the open gate, not a thing seemed out of place.

_Not a thing seems like a spy's either._

_Not everything's as it seems, sis._

They crawled closer and peeked into the red-trimmed windows. A dining area with a table and two chairs, but not a person in sight. No immediate danger in the Force either.

Acacia turned to her brother. _What now?_

He gave a small smirk. _What else?_

And with that, Anakin leapt up, raced for the door, and burst inside. Acacia rolled her eyes and followed him. _Why did I even ask?_

Anakin didn't answer her question, half because he didn't really know, half because he was too busy looking. Like the outside, the interior of the cottage looked like a woman's country retreat: a short staircase stood in front of him, and on either side, a room and a hallway that stretched around to the back of the house. On the right, was the dining area they'd seen through the window; on the left, what appeared to be a study: a table covered with neat stacks of books and flimsiplast and a desk with piles of...

_Is that _paper_?_ Acacia asked. _And pens?_

_Well, it's certainly not a datapad and a stylus._

_Force. I didn't know those even existed anymore._

_It's Vys._ Anakin shrugged as he rifled through the papers. _They're_ really _into antiques._ The pages were blank, all of them, like Dorme had intended to start something, but never got the chance to finish.

_I've got a bad feeling about this. You?_

Anakin didn't have to nod. His sister could feel it.

_You still sense that life form?_

Anakin paused, closing his eyes._ I don't know. There might be something..._ He turned towards the stairs, just as a muffled grunt sounded from that direction. The siblings didn't even look at each other; lightsabers lit, they sprinted for the second level. There was only one door, one room, so they burst right in.

"Well," Acacia said, as she sheathed her lightsaber, "there's your life form."

Before them, stood the only place in the house that was not impeccable. In fact, bookshelves were toppled, desks broken apart, books, ripped pages, and pieces of a commlink scattered all over the floor. In the midst of the mess, Dorme slumped in a chair, hands tied behind her back, face beaten and bruised, a strip of red cloth stuffed in her mouth.

"On the bright side," Acacia added, "I was right: it was a set-up."

Anakin put up his mental shield, and thought a myriad of words he did not want his little sister to know.

* * *

Padme sat in the nursery, one baby in each arm, gently rocking the twins back and forth. R2 was playing a lullaby Anakin had programmed into him, and with nothing better do, 3PO had shut down in the other room. The twins were sleeping; Luke made little cooing sounds to go with his sweet dreams, and Leia was sucking her fist like she'd never tasted anything better. Everything was so quiet, so pretty, so peaceful.

Except for Padme. Her stomach felt tight, her senses alert as she scanned for danger, using every trick with the Force Anakin had taught her. For all her efforts, she sensed nothing. But she couldn't know if that was because there was nothing to sense... or because her senses weren't strong enough to show her the dangers.

She only hoped that, if it was the latter, she wouldn't find out too late.

A knock on the door almost sent Padme leaping out of the rocker. The twins stirred in her arms, perhaps sensing her anxiety, and she whispered soothingly to the babies as she placed them back in their cribs. She left the nursery, still focusing in the Force, still sensing nothing. But, she reasoned, if someone intended to kill her and her children, they weren't likely to knock first.

All the same, she kept her lightsaber ready as she swung open the door.

It was Typho.

"Milady." He bowed quickly. "Master Skywalker told me to come and ensure that you and the children are safe."

"We're fine." Padme smiled, a mixture of politeness and relief. "No activity so far."

"Good." Typho nodded. " If you don't mind, Milady, I'll stay until Master Skywalker returns."

"That would be wonderful, Typho." Padme stepped out of the way so he could enter. As he crossed the threshold, a quiet cry came from the nursery. "That's Leia," Padme said, glancing over her shoulder. "I need to get her."

Typho nodded again, following the senator as she hurried back to the nursery. He stood watch in the doorway as Padme lifted her daughter and held her, swaying the sniffling baby until she calmed and simply stared at her mother with wide brown eyes. Again, all was quiet, as Padme gathered the courage to ask, "Typho, why exactly do Anakin and Acacia think there will be another attack?"

Her head of security frowned. "They did not tell you?"

Padme shook her head. "When Acacia commed me, she only said they might've found the spy, but they feared it was a trick, that someone would use it to attack us here."

"Yet she and Master Skywalker followed this 'trick' anyway?"

Padme shifted the baby in her arms. "According to Acacia, they weren't sure about the attack, and they couldn't ignore the lead because it's the best one we've had. Plus, she told me it might all be nothing. They were just warning us to be safe.

"So, Typho," Padme said the words slowly, tasting each one, knowing that if Typho answered–Force, even if he didn't–her world could never be the same. "Who's she? Who is the spy?"

He winced. "Milady, I... I am not certain I should say."

"Typho, I've known you for years. We have a certain trust, a camaraderie, rather than a relationship in which you are the lowly guard and I am the senator above you.

"But I will order you if I have to."

The man allowed the smallest of smiles. "There is no arguing with you, Milady." His smile disappeared as he sighed. "Keep in mind, we don't _know_ anything yet."

Padme nodded. "I will."

"But, from the looks of things, the spy, well... it could be Dorme."

She'd expected her world to change, to flip completely even. But she hadn't expected that to hurt like she'd just been hit by a starship in hyperspace. All Padme could manage was a quiet, "Oh."

Just at that moment, while she was still reeling, the doorbell rang. Typho's hand shot to the gun on his hip. "Would you like me to get that, Milady?"

Padme shook off the fog trying to settle in her head. "No." She could not appear weak. "I'll take care of it." For the second time, Padme laid her daughter down, hoping Leia wouldn't protest.

"All right," Typho said. "I'll come with you."

"Would an assassin ring the bell?" Padme tried to joke, but it didn't sound real, not even to her.

"A polite one would."

Any other time, she would've laughed. Today, she could barely smile as the words replayed in her head, _Why, Dorme? Why, Dorme? Why?_

_How could you do this to me?_

The door opened to reveal Sabe. "I'm sorry to bother you, Milady," she said, "but I was told that Dorme did not appear at the check-in today and I am afraid I let my worries get the best of me." She gave a tiny smile. "I wanted to come by and make sure you were safe."

Padme forced a smile. "That's fine, Sabe, thank you. Won't you come in?"

The handmaiden nodded and ducked inside. Just as Padme closed the door, her senses flashed, warning her, _Danger!_

But, as it turned out, it _was_ too late.

She heard the lightsaber activate just before she turned and saw Typho's body slump to the ground. Sabe's brown eyes sparked in the saber's glow. "Apologies, Milady. I believe I am the spy you are looking for."

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	30. Chapter 28

**Hello awesome people! Thanks for your reviews, follows, and favorites! You are all wonderful! **

* * *

Chapter 28

Anakin almost spun for the door. If Dorme was tied up, then she wasn't the spy. If she wasn't the spy, then someone else was the spy. If someone else was the spy, then he and Acacia were right about the ruse, and this other person was probably headed to Padme and the twins at that very second.

But before he took a step, his conscience popped up, reminding him that he couldn't just _leave_ Dorme there; it wouldn't be right. So, rather reluctantly, he knelt beside his sister tp help free the handmaiden.

"Oh, thank you," Dorme breathed when Acacia cut the gag away. "I was afraid no one would come for me!"

"Day of the check-in, Dorme," Anakin said, trying not to sound overly impatient as he broke the bonds on her arms. "Of course we noticed when you didn't check in."

The looks on the girls' faces said he'd probably sounded incredibly impatient, and rude to boot; but right then, Anakin didn't care.

Dorme decided not to either. She shook her head and struggled to stand. "We... We have to catch them."

"Them?" Acacia asked, catching the handmaiden before she tripped over her own numb feet. "And you don't really look well enough to go anywhere."

"Entirely beside the point," Dorme grunted as she limped forwards. "Padme is my mistress and, more importantly, my friend. I will not stand idle on account of a little discomfort while others harm her." She paused by the door, glaring back at Anakin and Acacia. "You will not leave me behind."

_She'll slow us down._

_We have a speeder. And it'll take less time to bring her than to convince her to stay._

One look at Dorme's face, and Anakin couldn't disagree with Acacia. "Fine," he growled. "But don't take this personally, Dorme."

"Take wha–?!" A surprised scream cut Dorme's question in half as Anakin literally swept her off her feet. "Faster this way," he explained, and before Dorme had a second to argue, he and Acacia were sprinting out of the house and down to the street, where Anakin practically tossed the handmaiden into their speeder, then leapt into the driver's seat. The engine roared to life before Acacia could even close her door, and they were off before Dorme managed to sit up straight.

"Dorme," Acacia said as they sped down the streets, "if you're not the spy, who attacked you?"

The girl glanced back to see the handmaiden closing her eyes, as if such a small action could ward off all her pain. "It was Sabe."

The siblings exchanged another look, but Anakin only shook his head. The spy's identity didn't matter now. What mattered was reaching home before she hurt his family.

"She arrived at my house this morning," Dorme continued, sounding as though she was still there in that moment, when her best friend betrayed her. "She suggested we go to the check-in together. Just as I agreed, something arose and struck me from behind. I passed out.

"When I came to, she and some man were tying me up, but he hit me again before I could scream. I woke up a second time about an hour ago, but with such great distance between the lots, no one could hear my calls for help."

"Might wanna invest in some neighbors," Anakin muttered as he zoomed across the lanes and broke at least ten traffic laws in the same amount of seconds. _At least there aren't many around to see it._

Acacia shot her brother a look that said, _"Shut it,"_ the same moment as Dorme whispered, "I'm worried about them, too, you know."

Anakin remained silent, suffocating the slight guilt beneath the worry for his family. Padme and the twins, they were all that mattered; he had no time for other emotions.

_Do you have time to get there before Sabe and her partner do?_ a quiet voice – not Acacia's – whispered in his head.

Anakin clenched his jaw. _You bet I do._

* * *

When Obi-Wan brought her a lightsaber from the remains of the Temple, Padme had wondered if she'd ever use it in actual combat.

Now she knew.

With her brain still in shock, the weapon seemed to flip into her hand of its own accord. Surprise crossed over Sabe's features, but then she simply sighed. "Do we really have to do it this way, Milady?"

"My _lady?"_ Anger coursed through Padme's veins, shoving off the confusion, and she remembered what the Jedi taught about anger: that it wasn't an emotion to be used, especially in battle; that it would carry one away to the Dark Side of the Force.

But she'd always been taught that to be angry was to be human, to be a being, to be _alive._ So, in that moment, she couldn't really bring herself to care about the Jedi teachings. "You just admitted you're the _spy,"_ Padme seethed. "That you've been trying to kill me and my family for weeks, and you have the nerve to–"

"Honestly, I didn't want this to happen," Sabe interrupted. "I know that's what everyone says, but it _is_ true. I was forced to choose between my lady and my love–"

"Your _what?"_

"And I'm afraid his win was inevitable." Sabe shrugged and held her saber up in an offensive position. "Are you going to come quietly?"

Padme glowered in reply, but watched the lightsaber warily. She couldn't know how much training Sabe had, but unless she too was a beginner, Padme's chances against her were slim.

On the other hand, Sabe had been trying to murder the Skywalkers for weeks, and she'd just killed Typho in cold blood.

Coming quietly would mean death.

Padme stared her former friend in the eyes. "No."

Sabe nodded. "So be it."

The lightsaber spun at her; Padme barely parried in time to keep all her limbs. She was already at the door, she _had_ to get more room, but Sabe kept forcing her back, back, and back again. She felt her heel hit the doorfame and stumbled into the wall.

"Padme, please, just–"

She kicked Sabe in the knee, then danced aside–shoving off her heartache when she stepped on Typho's body–turning to face her attacker a few steps away. Sabe glared, but managed to stand straight on her injured leg. "I never realized you'd resort to such violence, Milady."

"I never realized you'd resort to such betrayal."

A piercing wail shot from the twins' room, and Padme's heart sped up. Wait, had Sabe been a distraction? Was someone else after her babies?

_Force, no._

She lunged past Sabe and sprinted for the nursery. A step down the hall, the Force warned her in the nick of time, and she dived to the side, just as the lightsaber sliced through the spot her leg had been a second earlier. "I am not allowed to kill you yet," Sabe said. "But I will maim if you make this difficult."

Padme spun around, still listening for the twins, hoping no one lurked in the rooms behind her. Lightsaber at the ready, the senator backed down the hall; she'd ward Sabe off till she got to the twins' room, make sure they were safe...

_And then what?_

Distract Sabe somehow. Lead her away. Anything to keep Luke and Leia alive.

"You can't protect them from us," Sabe said as she advanced, hacking at Padme's defenses. "He _will_ get what he desires, and I'm afraid the only way to ensure that is the death of you and all you love."

Padme didn't reply; she was too busy dodging the constant blows. Sabe swung for her arm, and she deflected – barely – but left her legs open. She leapt over the lightsaber, feeling its heat on her boots, but came down just in time to receive Sabe's special-order kick to the face.

The senator staggered away, glancing behind her, listening for the twins again. Nothing now; this hallway never felt so long. She had to reach her babies, had to distract Sabe, but _how?_

An Anakin-like phrase popped into her mind: "I didn't realize you liked older men."

Sabe paused, then took another swing. "You think you can divert my attention so easily?"

Padme stopped the red saber with her blue one, attempting a nonchalant shrug even as her arms burned from the strain. "No, you just mentioned your love, and I thought 'You and Sidious. Strange couple.'"

Sabe took a step back – and laughed. Not the expected response, but at least she'd paused the duel. "Don't be juvenile, Padme. I don't work for Sidious; I work for Vader."

Before Padme could process what that might mean, Sabe smirked and flew for her again. Their lightsabers whirred, blurring red and blue lights and electric warbles; the weapons left burn scars in the walls as Sabe attacked and attacked.

But Padme made it to the twins' room.

One peek inside told her the children were alone. But she saw Sabe's eyes go to them and knew the handmaiden wouldn't balk at stooping so low.

She had to distract her, but words would not work this time.

So Padme did something thoroughly insane. Which is to say, she did what she thought her husband would do.

Padme kicked off the wall, not quite flipping but propelling herself into Sabe. She had time to register her old friend's look of surprise and pray her own lightsaber didn't stab her through, before she crashed into Sabe and they tumbled head over heels back down the hall. Both surrendered their lightsabers, attempting to survive the wild move, but Padme still felt slightly surprised when she came out without an extra hole in her chest.

There was, however, little time to feel relief. Both women leapt to their feet, seized their lightsabers with the Force, and faced each other again.

"You're better than I thought," Sabe said, and Padme had the feeling that was hardly a compliment.

"You too." Her eyes narrowed. "You've been taking lessons from Vader."

"Yes, actually. Though he taught me more about the Force then about combat." Sabe sneered. "How do you think I cloaked from your precious Jedi husband all this time?"

The implications of that punched Padme in the stomach. Was _everyone_ a closet Sith Lord?

Then the saber came spinning at her, and she remembered that now was not the time to worry about her other friends' loyalties. Now was the time to fight for her life.

Sabe kept forcing her backwards, and as Padme gave ground, she scrambled through her mind for an escape. Nothing. Nothing except Anakin's motto during the Clone Wars: _Offense is the best defense_. So again she sprung forwards, leaping for Sabe, hoping to catch her by surprise again.

She didn't.

Sabe repelled her with the Force, and Padme flew across the room, the front door, kindly, though abruptly, ending her trip. She slumped to the floor.

Through half-closed eyes, she watched Sabe stalk towards her. She heard her children's cries, saw the hole in Typho's chest, met his wide-open eyes only a few feet from her face. Padme gritted her teeth and called on the Force. _Get up._

But then Sabe grasped her neck in a Force-Choke, and not even the strongest of wills could keep the darkness from seeping into her vision.

* * *

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	31. Chapter 29

**Hey guys! Sorry this chapter's late! I tried so hard to get this chapter up on time, but I just didn't end up having time. Again, I apologize!**

* * *

Chapter 29

When Padme finally slumped, unconscious against the wall, Sabe almost sighed with relief. It was nearly over. Just a little further, and all of this would end.

She sheathed her lightsaber, blew her hair from her eyes, and pulled out her comm to alert Nordon Choler, who lay hidden in the back of her speeder. "What in the Galaxy took you so long?" the bounty hunter grunted.

"That is irrelevant," she snapped. "Come inside at once. I require your assistance."

Choler muttered a few words under his breath, but Sabe ignored him. He'd be a fool not to follow her orders and, though he might pick fools to follow him, the Duros himself was far from it. Well, far for someone who chose one of the most peaceful planets in the Galaxy on which to be a criminal, anyway.

While she waited for him to sneak up to the house, Sabe's eyes betrayed her, sliding to Typho's body. She looked away again. His death was unfortunate, to be sure, but he would have been a complication now that he knew the truth. Easier to hide the body and blame a rogue Jedi than try to keep him quiet.

A loud rap on the door almost made her jump. Sabe paused, breathed, had to focus. She was a _Sith,_ for star's sake. A little knock on the door should not have had her leaping like a child sighting a spider.

"What is it?" Choler asked once she'd opened the door for him.

"I need you to take her out." Sabe nodded at Padme. "I will handle the children."

"Why can't you–" Choler paused to grunt as he hoisted Padme off the ground "–Force-Lift her to the speeder?"

Sabe bristled. She'd like to give the man a good Force-Choke for questioning her orders, but for the moment, she needed him. She couldn't carry Padme _and_ the twins–even with the Force–and she didn't exactly trust Choler to not drop the children and thus kill them before the proper time.

All she said to Choler was, "You need the manual labor."

The man raised his eyebrows, pausing by the door. "Are you in _earnest?_ You two barge into my shelter, demanding I help again, after what I suffered the last time." He nodded at the artificial fixings in his arm. "And then you dare to say–"

"Simply put, Mr. Choler, I am a Sith, you are a criminal, and I am, quite frankly, above you. If you have any further complaints, you're welcome to end up like him." Sabe pointed at Typho's body, but kept her eyes averted.

A crackle of fear raced onto Choler's features, but bravado chased it away. "Your wish is my command, Milady," he said, before carrying Padme out the door.

Sabe shook her head and turned away, towards the hall. The quicker she was done with these people, so much the better.

The twins were still sniffling when she entered their room, but Sabe hoped they'd calm when they saw her face–she'd held them a few times since their birth and, after all, she looked so much like Padme.

As Sabe approached, Leia stopped crying, settling for a quiet mewl instead. Luke, on the other hand, saw fit to scream all the louder when he saw Sabe's face. The spy gritted her teeth at his warbling cry. So _annoying._

The Dark Side whispered a warning, and she whirled around, just in time to see that old astromech sneaking up on her, sparks sizzling from his electric shock pike. Acting on instinct and the Force, Sabe kicked the droid backward, launching him screeching across the room. For the second time that day, she watched something slam into a wall and not move afterwards.

She turned back to the twins; both were wailing again. "My apologies, dear babes," she said, as she lifted one into each arm. "This will all end soon."

Of course, it would end with their deaths. But what was the point of telling a two-month-old such?

Sabe strode out of the room and down to the speeder, muffling the babies' cries with her cloak, glancing around to ensure no one heard them. Though Padme's property was quite large, a few other retreats sat sunning in the distance. However, they were all far off, miles away, and filled with people who rarely bothered themselves with others' problems.

So there was no one to hear the babies screaming, as they were forced into a speeder with their unconscious mother and stolen away.

* * *

By the time they made it to Choler's nearest hideaway, the twins had cried themselves out, reduced to sniffling, half-asleep bundles in Sabe's arms. They were... almost adorable, Sabe thought, with their big bright eyes of blue and brown, the tiny tear tracks trailing from their eyes, their mouths in almost perfect o's as they attempted to comfort themselves by sucking their fingers. They were, well, lovely, Sabe realized, starting to–

_No._ Lovely or not, adorable or not, _babies_ or not, they were the blood of Anakin Skywalker. The _Jedi_ who had stabbed the man she loved with a lightsaber and left him to die on the lava banks of Mustafar. Sabe's fists clenched around the babies' legs, extracting a cry from each before she slackened her grip. Pity, yes, but they would have to die. It was the only way to complete the plan, appease Sidious, and thereby, Vader.

"Uh-oh."

Sabe jerked her head up, meeting Choler's eyes in the mirror. "Is there a problem, bounty hunter?"

"Not for me." The Duros chuckled. "But he's here."

"Vader?" Sabe's heart sped up and her lips twitched upwards...

"No. The other one."

Her smile fell.

"He's not supposed to be here this early," she murmured beneath her breath, but somehow Choler heard.

"And you weren't supposed to come back and commandeer one of my shelters. Regardless, we are all here, so I suppose you'll just have to manage." He halted the speeder, hopped out, and stalked into the cave-like hut he called a hideout. Sabe made a mental note to punish his insolence later.

For now, she need deal with the other reluctant accomplice.

The human male marched towards the speeder, grey eyes stormier than a Hoth winter day. He looked over the side, at Padme's unconscious form, at the twins bundled in Sabe's arms, and his face rippled from horror to anguish to anger; when Darred finally met her eyes, the latter was etched into his face.

"Sabe, how _could_ you?"

She considered continuing their lie. It had worked for the last month and a half, convincing Darred that Anakin was a danger to his family, that spying on him was in the Naberries' best interest, that they would only eliminate Anakin and the rest of Darred's family would be safe.

But his disbelief had grown in the past weeks. Not surprising, really, they had always known that the threats were too strong and the lies too fragile. Eventually, they would have to tell Darred the truth. Sabe had only hoped that Vader would be there to do it for her.

Before she could open her mouth, though, Darred opened his. "You _promised_ me. You said you'd never hurt Padme or the twins. You _swore_ the other attempts had nothing to do with you!"

"And how could you think that they did? I was _on_ that ship, or don't you recall?" Sabe forced away her own doubt about Vader's intentions. He'd have an explanation. Surely he would.

Darred nodded grudgingly, but his anger didn't lessen. "So then how do you explain this?" he asked, sweeping his hand over the three captives.

"Why are you here?" Sabe asked. "You were not supposed to arrive until–"

"Wanted to talk to you," he interrupted. "And don't try and change the subject. I want an _answer."_

Sabe nodded slowly. If the worse came about and he attacked her, she could always kill him. "As you wish. The Emperor believes that Anakin can be turned to our service, but Vader and I disagree. It is best for everyone if Anakin is eliminated: he is a liability, an impediment to progress. With ease, Vader will serve the position the Emperor has for Anakin, but the only way he will have the chance to prove that is if Anakin no longer breathes."

Darred pursed his lips. "What does that have to do with Padme and the twins?"

"The Emperor wants them killed in order to break Anakin. There is a substantial amount of Darkness swirling within that _Jedi,_ however much he tries to suppress it, and with the death of those he loves most, the Emperor believes he can... bring that Darkness to light, so to speak. Twist and turn Anakin to the Dark Side of the Force." Sabe lowered her head, glancing under her lashes at Darred. "Much like we did with you."

He gritted his teeth. "I don't side with you, witch, and you know it. Stars, you began with threatening me, and then you lied–"

"However," Sabe continued as if Darred hadn't spoken, "Vader cannot seem to directly disobey his Master, so Anakin's death must appear necessary: we kidnapped the family, planning to kill them as the Emperor asked, then Anakin found and attacked us." Sabe shrugged. "We had no choice but to defend ourselves.

"It will be... difficult to execute, certainly. But the only definite way is to ensure their deaths. All of theirs."

Darred shook his head and backed away. "First, you blackmail me, then you lie and attempt to kill my sister-in-law and her children?" He took another step. "I'm done. I'm telling Anakin about this."

"Feel free to do so," Sabe replied. "Though I don't know how you can see that ending well for you."

He knew she was baiting him, he _knew_ it. Still, Darred turned back and asked. "What are you talking about?"

Sabe forced a laugh so real, she almost fooled herself. "Darred, you've antagonized Ankin from the moment he came into your life, long before you began working for us. You've been spying on him for the past month and a half while he's tried to enjoy his family time. You've plotted to kill him and his loved ones–"

"I did no such thing and you _know_ it. You said you'd only take care of the Jedi and help Padme see the truth about him."

"But _Anakin_ doesn't know that. All he knows is that you hate the Jedi, and him specifically. What makes you think he'll believe you?" She smirked. "What makes you think he won't kill you on the spot?"

Darred froze. "He wouldn't. He's–"

"A good man? If so, then why have you–"

"I wasn't going to say he's a good man! Only that he wouldn't stoop that low. Besides, I had to do it. For–"

"For the family." Sabe nodded knowingly. "Pooja, in particular." Darred froze again. "You know, our contract is not complete until Vader and I have what we desire: his rightful position at the Emperor's side, with no competitors in place. Until then, Pooja's immunity to recruitment from the Academy for Skilled Younglings can be revoked."

Darred's face darkened, redder than the naked flesh of Vader's burn scars, and Sabe, sensing his fury, realized he would make a fine Sith Lord. If he were actually Force-Sensitive.

"So this is what it's been," he said. "All along."

Sabe nodded. "I was forced to make a choice as well. We all are, sooner or later. Yours, is your sister-in-law or your daughter." She shrugged again. "And in the end, Darred, you can hardly blame us. It's your own fault for choosing not to see."

Darred shook his head, looking away from Padme and the children. "You lied to me."

Sabe's lips curled into the slightest of smiles. "You believed my lie."

She paused, and when he did not speak again, she continued, "Since you are here, you can execute your part of the plan: go to Anakin. Tell him you came over to speak with him, saw me leave with Padme and the twins, and decided to follow us. Say it looked suspicious, or you didn't recognize the man next to me, even that you had a 'funny feeling.' It doesn't matter. He'll be too distraught to question you and he has no reason to suspect you of any greater faults than pigheadedness and an extraordinary ability to aggravate him.

"Anakin believes that you care about Padme and the twins." Sabe stared at Darred's back, till his eyes met hers. "Use that to your advantage."

She sensed him seething, but he only nodded in reply.

"Good. Truth be told, Darred, no one need ever know. When you finish, go home. Enjoy what is left of your family. You, at least, have some part remaining, and that's more than we'll leave for Anakin."

Disgust–with himself, with Sabe, with the very Galaxy–written on his face, Darred turned and walked away.

* * *

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	32. Chapter 30

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Chapter 30

To Acacia, the house seemed strangely clean. Other than the scorch marks on the walls, an overturned armchair, and of course, the body they'd laid on the couch, everything seemed almost as tyhe'd left it: the twins' plaques still hung straight over the fireplace, Padme's datapad still lay on the mantle, the bread they'd had for breakfast still sat in a basket on the counter. It was almost like the house expected her family back any moment, like they'd just stepped out for some fresh air, and in half a second, they'd come strolling through that door, all the worlds as they should be.

But the cold shiver in the Force told her no one would make it back tonight, not unless her and Anakin made it happen.

She sensed her brother's pain, his worry, his fury so ferocious he could hardly see straight. She could feel it rising, that ripple of Darkness laid dormant for months, now rearing its head, shifting to the surface; Ani didn't even see that he was vulnerable.

Acacia reached out with her mind, pushing away the tendrils that tried to latch on her soul too. _We'll find them, Ani._

He shook her off, same as she'd shaken off the Dark. "I should've _been_ here," he hissed. "I could've–"

"M'lord," Dorme said from where she'd collapsed in one of the chairs. "I have no doubt you did the best that you were able, even above and beyond. But now is no time for regrets as they shall not assist us. For now, we must find Padme and the children."

"And how _exactly_ should we do that?" Anakin snapped. "Did Sabe happen to mention where she was headed next before she knocked you out and tied you up?"

_"Anakin."_

Acacia's voice sliced through the Dark, yanking him back from the edge. He sighed, immediately deflating. "I'm sorry."

Dorme nodded. "I know."

Anakin paused, closing his eyes, and Acacia could practically feel him refocusing, ripping through his head for a solution.

She also sensed him come up with absolutely nothing. "We could see if 3PO or R2 saw something," she suggested.

Anakin scoffed. "3PO was _off."_ He flicked a hand at the still-shutdown droid they'd found in the back. "And R2 is broken. Even if I could fix him, it's not like Sabe would've said where she was _going."_ Anakin shook his head and paced. "We have no clues. _Nothing_ to go on..." _So what the Force do I _do_?_ he finished mentally, falling against a wall.

Acacia wished she could answer.

* * *

It was like he'd been sucked into a sandpit, only instead of dirty grit falling over his head, blinding his eyes, filling his nose, strangling his lungs, there was only fear. Padme, Luke, Leia, they were _out there _somewhere. He could feel it, feel their _needing_ him, feel death too too close to them. But he didn't know, he couldn't _know,_ where to find them.

_And since when did not knowing stop me?_

He leapt up. "Where are you going?" his sister asked.

Anakin shook his head. "I have to find them, Caish."

"But you don't even know where they are. They could be anywhere on all of–"

"I _know_ that. But I can't just sit here. I _have_ to go after them." As Anakin faced Acacia, he knew his eyes were almost pleading, he knew she knew how desperate he as, he knew how pathetic he seemed, and yet he couldn't care. They had been _captured._ His wife, his children, his _family._ They could be dying now, while he sat here debating details.

"I know," Acacia said slowly, probably reading the words in his brain. "But we can't just rush off."

Anakin paused, waiting for her to tell him exactly why, and what her brilliant plan was because he was totally all ears. But before she could say anything, they heard a quiet sound. _Ping._

Anakin looked down, and Acacia frowned as she asked, "What's that?"

_Ping._

"It's my comm." Anakin's eyes widened as a sliver of his mental fog cleared. "The _trackers."_

"Sabe's taken them to Vader."

Before Acacia had finished her sentence, Darred strode through the unlocked door. "Anakin," he said as his eyes fixed on the Jedi, "I've gotta talk to you."

"Not now, Darred," Anakin groaned, waving him off. "You can insult me later; I don't have time for this right now." He fumbled to pull the commlink out of his pocket. If he could just figure out where they were meeting, maybe he could still–

Darred batted it out of his hands. "What the–"

"This is _all_ you have time for right now, " Darred replied, not so much as flinching at Anakin's glower. "It's about Padme and the twins. I..." he paused, swallowing, and Acacia suddenly noticed Darred seemed very pale, and his ForceMark was saturated with fear almost as strong as Anakin's. "I know who took them."

All thoughts of the trackers fled Anakin's mind, a split second before they flew from Acacia's. _"What?"_ her brother asked.

"I don't know that you'll understand, but it doesn't really matter now." Darred squared his shoulders, staring Anakin in the eye. "I guess you know by now that Sabe's a spy."

"How do you even–"

"Because I was the other one."

Before he could get another word out, Anakin grabbed him in a Force-Choke and shoved him into the wall. Darred didn't even struggle, but between gasping breaths, he wheezed out, "Please, I can... tell you... where they are."

"Oh, I know that," Anakin replied. "And you will if you want to–"

"You... don't have to threaten me," Darred promised as his lips turned blue. "I made... a _mistake._ I know that."

"A _mistake."_

"Yes, I–"

"Anakin." Acacia's voice cut through the Dark fog. "Whatever he's done," She faced Darred with eyes fierce as a fire and cold as ice chips, "he's our only lead."

"Fine," Anakin growled, letting Darred fall to the floor, ignoring the other man as he wheezed a few breaths back in his lungs. "What do you know?"

Darred coughed and rubbed his throat, but forced the words out. "Not... not much. Sabe approached me about two months ago. Said one of Pooja's teachers noticed her Force-Sensitivity and was going to recommend her to the Academy." He turned to them with pleading eyes. "I had to protect my daughter."

An image of Leia flashed in the Jedi's minds, but both pushed it away with equal swiftness. "I really don't care why you did it," Anakin hissed. "You said you could tell us where they are _now."_

Darred nodded. "And I can. But you have to trust me."

_"Trust_ you?"

"Let me tell you the full story. Maybe then you'll understand."

Every second could mean the difference from life to death for his family. Anakin shook his head and picked up his still-beeping commlink. "Not a chance."

"They're about twenty minutes from here!" Darred shouted, as if he feared Anakin would kill him now that he knew the truth. "At the southeast border of the Lake Country. Small, practically unknown territory, corner of sector 46. You'll find a little hut and them inside, I swear it."

Ignoring him, Anakin opened the message from his tracking program. A holograph popped up, a small map of Naboo, with a blinking, red dot at the southeast border of the Lake Country. _Corner of sector 46._

Anakin cursed. Then he took a mental snapshot and sent it to Acacia.

_Comm or contact?_ she asked.

_Physical contact. Vader's right there_.

They had to go. _Now._

"But you can't just walk inside." Darred was still talking? "They're expecting that. They sent me here to make _sure_ you did. But there's a secret back entrance."

Anakin turned around, glaring at him. "And you know about this entrance how?"

"You think I liked working for people who threatened my daughter? I made it my business to know everything they didn't want me to." Darred frowned. "That's how I found out they were lying to me."

Anakin and Acacia exchanged a look. Darred might be lying; he might be telling the truth. With all that had happened in the past few hours, they couldn't possibly know who to trust. "You'll show us this entrance," Anakin decided. "But if you make one wrong move or turn out to be lying about this..." Anakin let the threat hang over Darred like a guillotine. Let him imagine the things Anakin would do, if he betrayed them _one more time_. "Got that?"

Darred nodded and struggled to his feet. "Yes."

"Great. Acacia, let's go."

As they reached the door, someone cleared her throat. Crap, he'd forgotten about Dorme. "I do hope you are not intending to leave without me."

"Dorme..." _You were injured. You'll slow us down. We don't have time for this._ "I was," he said. No time for tact either. "Sorry, but you'll slow us down."

"I am not incapable of fighting, Master Jedi," she said, fishing a blaster from Typho's body and sticking it in a hidden holster of her dress. "I can and will fight by your side."

_Again,_ Acacia thought to him, _easier to take her than convince her to stay._

"Fine," Anakin snapped. "Let's just go."

"And, Master Jedi," Dorme added, as she slid past him and out the door, "if you attempt to pick me up again, I just may shoot you."

A tiny portion of Anakin wanted to smile. The part that was dying with worry over his family immediately squashed it.

* * *

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	33. Chapter 31

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Chapter 31

After Darred left, Sabe recruited Choler again to carry Padme inside and put her on a (stolen) velvet couch in the front room. The twins cried themselves to sleep a few moments later and when she was sure they would not awaken, she laid them down beside their mother.

And now, she waited.

Her eyes stared fixedly at the old wooden door, but her mind wandered, recalling the time she'd asked Choler why he even had a hut so close to the Lake Country. "One must eat," he'd said. "And often, thievery from a wealthy individual will supply one for days."

"You never targeted the Skywalkers?"

"After he nearly amputated my arm?" Choler asked incredulously. "You must think I'm insane."

She did actually. And sometimes, she wondered if she was too.

Sabe shook her head, shoving away her thoughts. When would Vader–

He strode through the door. "Sabe?"

"M'lord!" she exclaimed, running to him and wrapping her arms carefully around his machinery. It was so difficult to hug him now, but she tried to recall the way he'd felt against her before: before the suit, before Anakin hurt him, before she'd even known who he truly was.

She'd just fixed it in her mind, just begun to relish the embrace, when he pulled away, not quite roughly but not gently either.

"Not now, Sabe. Is everything going to plan?"

She nodded, as he walked further into the room and glanced down at Padme and the twins. "Perfectly, M'Lord. Darred went to retrieve the Jedi approximately twenty minutes ago. They should return soon."

Vader nodded. "Wonderful."

"M'lord," Sabe said slowly, after a moment's pause, "would it not be... easier for us to end them now?" She flicked a hand towards Padme and the children as though they meant nothing to her.

"Easier? Well, yes, I suppose. But not nearly as smart. When Anakin sees them alive, he'll be willing to negotiate. If he sees them dead, he'll just attack."

"We could defeat him."

"Perhaps," he replied, slowly, and she could almost sense the frown in his voice. "But he is... unpredictable when angered. I need him predictable."

"Any negotiation will end in his death, he must know that."

"Yes. But if we leave even the smallest chance for him to save his family, he'll take it, no matter the cost."

"The cost will be his life and theirs."

"Well, _yes,_ but he'll only know the first part, _Muna_." Sabe couldn't hide the smile that spread across her face, and she could sense Vader's own joy as their goal finally came in reach. "But for now, _Muna_, we wait."

As silence settled over them, Sabe's joy slowly dissipated and she recalled a doubt that had sprung into her mind as she spoke with Darred. _"I was_ on_ that ship, or don't you recall?"_ She'd never had the time–or the courage–to ask Vader why he had proceeded with that attempt. True, he'd told her beforehand that an attack was imminent, but he hadn't said he would be so vicious, he hadn't said it would be so terrifying...

He _had_ said that she would have time to escape, but if Anakin and Acacia hadn't managed to defeat him, there was no way she would have survived.

"Your feelings betray you, Sabe," Vader said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, M'Lord. I was only thinking." He did not speak a word, but she knew he expected her to continue. "About the... event a few weeks ago. When you shot at us–or, them. On the way to the Senate meeting."

She could feel his anger simmering. "We talked about this already: I warned you beforehand, and you would've had plenty of time to reach the escape pods. If you didn't for some reason, the Dark Side would've protected you... as it did me when I fried on Mustafar. In any case," He shrugged. "you were perfectly safe."

His version of "perfectly safe" and hers appeared to be vastly different. Besides that, having your atoms blown to nanoparticles was not quite the same as a few third-degree burns. Still, she bobbed her head quickly. "I know. That is why I did not find my thoughts worth mentioning."

"I guess you were right, then."

Sabe looked down and fingered her cloak, the red Senate garment she'd been so pleased to get back then, the day her best friend became one of the Royals of Naboo. Of course, that was long before Sabe met Vader, long before she turned against Padme; but it was as if this cloak was all that remained of that life. Like her, it served dual purposes: it had convinced Choler that she was who she said she was, just as it convinced the Senate guards. It had warmed her as she rushed through empty streets to meet with Vader, and it had identified her as one of Padme's most trusted.

"How difficult was it?" Vader asked suddenly.

"What, M'Lord?"

"To beat her." He nodded at Padme. "How hard was the fight?"

Sabe pursed her lips. "Harder than it should've been, I admit. I had to Force-Choke her into submission."

He nodded. "So your saber skills still aren't caught up with your Force abilities."

"A deficit I will do everything in my power to remedy."

She could sense him smiling. "Good."

They lapsed into silence once more. Sabe forced herself to stay calm, to stay silent, even as she wanted to beg him to help her _now,_ to train her before the Jedi came crashing in and she had to defend herself again. But they could not afford to be distracted, could not lose focus for even a _moment._

Besides, what could she learn in ten minutes?

Instead, she practiced the Force. Her connection was just low enough that it was easy to hide, especially from one who wasn't looking for it. It was one of the first things Vader had taught her: the lower your power, the easier to cloak; however, the higher your power, the better you _could_ cloak.

So now she swept the Force around her. Vader glanced her way, and she smiled reassuringly as she reached out, attempting to glimpse his emotions. He rarely told her what he was thinking or feeling, but she could sense now that he was... distressed. Almost scared–

"Stop it."

She uncloaked and drew back. "I'm sorry."

"You should be."

"My... my love," she ventured, standing up and stepping towards him. "We are partners, not only in the Dark, but in our life and in our love." She brushed his armored shoulder with her fingertips. "Won't you tell me what the problem is?"

Vader sighed and shook his head. "Sidious is getting impatient. One more failure, he says, and he will have no more use for me." Vader shot to his feet–awfully swift for a man in head-to-toe armor–and Sabe stumbled back. "After everything I've done, fifteen _years_ of following and serving and 'Yes, Master,' 'Of course, Master' 'Whatever you say, Master,' a few mistakes and he's _finished with me_." Vader growled out the last words, turning his masked glare onto Padme and the children. "It's all because of _Anakin._ I couldn't kill him or his family the way he massacred our droids: in those flashy, wild, _impossible_ sweeps. I am not as... impressive as my donor has always been."

"Ace," Sabe cooed, stepping close again. "That is simply false."

"It is _not._ But for now, we go with something more straightforward. After this is over, after I finally have what I deserve, I'll show Sidious. He'll see that I can be as great as that _Jedi,_ even better. Or–." Something like fear touched his ForceMark, but Sabe retreated again without exploring the cause. "This _has_ to work, Sabe."

She nodded, steeling herself for the fight to come. "It will," she promised, their enemies, Vader, and even herself. "I'll make sure it will."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	34. Chapter 32

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry this fic has been moving so slowly everyone, but I've found that it's just too difficult for me to try to post every Friday. So instead, I'm just going to post whenever I have a chapter ready. There shouldn't be any longer than two weeks between each update, but there will be about a week and a half between most of them.

Without further ado...

* * *

Chapter 32

"This is it." Darred stared through the macrobinoculars, pointing at a cluster of cylindrical shacks. "That one on the far left."

"There's nothing around for a half-smile," Acacia said, as her brother muttered a curse. "They'll see us coming easily."

_Bet that's why they chose it, Caish._

"Yeah, but can't you Jedi kind of... you know." Darred gestured vaguely. "Walk invisibly or something?"

Anakin spared him a second-long look with enough disdain to last a lifetime. _"No."_

"We can make it hard for them to see us," Acacia explained, more for Dorme's sake than for Darred's, "but it's not impossible if they're paying attention."

Anakin took the binoculars, aiming them at the long brown huts standing alone on the plain. The falling night and the high grass would both work in their favor, but Vader or Sabe could still sense their ForceMarks, and there was no way to know if Darred was actually betraying them and the Sith were just _waiting_ to take them out. Anakin lowered the goggles to glare at his brother-in-law. "If you're lying about this..."

Darred shook his head. "I'm not. Are we ready?"

_If you are._

_Definitely._

Acacia turned to Dorme, who gave a short nod. "Great," Anakin said. "Let's go then."

As darkness fell, it did as much to conceal the group as the Force did. Because Darred and Dorme weren't Force-Sensitive, their Marks almost cloaked themselves, but Anakin and Acacia carefully kept their shields up, ensuring the Sith never sensed them coming. They blended with the shadows, ghosted over the plain, and prayed all the way that Darred wasn't a filthy liar and no one was waiting to kill them at the back door.

By the time they were about sixty yards away, no one had come out, lightsaber swinging, and no one had sniped them from a window. So Acacia figured so far, so good. Darred led them to the back of the first hut, typed a code in on the keypad, then stepped back as the door swung silently open. "Looks like a tunnel," Acacia commented.

"It is." Darred nodded. "This hut is a fake, a cover up for the tunnel, which goes straight into the ground and comes up at the back of the main hut." He nodded towards the entrance. "Are we going in?"

_Oh yeah, let's,_ Acacia muttered inwardly,_ Because a cramped, dark tunnel in the middle of_ nowhere_ just_ screams,_ '"Im safe! Totally not a trap!"_

Anakin's lip twitched upwards, and he shrugged in his sister's direction. _All true. But we don't have a choice, Caish._

His sister wished she could argue.

* * *

A few feet in, Anakin couldn't take it anymore. Even though he knew it could blow his own cloaking cover, he had to _know—had_ to—if his family was alive.

So he reached out with the Force and searched for their Marks.

_There._

It felt like he'd been carrying Coruscant on his shoulders, and the Force suddenly lifted the planet away. They were _alive._ He could feel Padme—just a few yards waking up, fighting against her grogginess, getting her bearings so she'd be ready to strike when the moment arose. He sensed the twins, fast asleep despite the insanity of it all, and their soothing presence touched him. It was as if, even in slumber, even so young, they were reaching out to him, reassuring his soul, keeping him sane—

_Anakin!_ Acacia hissed, and he reluctantly drew back, knowing he'd been stupid, but not regretting it.

_They're alive!_ he told Acacia as they crawled so slowly forwards. _I know they are. I_ felt_ it._

_If he let them live this long, he wants to strike a bargain with you._ She faced him for a split second, her violet eyes glowing in the darkness. _You know you can't deal with him._

_I know._ He also knew he'd make _any_ deal to keep his family alive.

Acacia shook her head, hearing the tacked-on truth even when he tried to hide it from her, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop him. So she patted her lightsaber, just to let him know she'd help anyway.

* * *

As the ground elevated and leveled out, Darred whispered, "End of the tunnel." Anakin and Acacia nodded at each other, then unsheathed their lightsabers, prepared to kill anyone—Darred included—who got in their way.

The door opened into a small room that looked like a bedchamber. No one was there.

"Down this hallway," Darred whispered, gesturing out the door, "is the main room. They're probably holding them there."

"Great, let's go," Anakin said, and him in the lead, they snuck down the narrow hall. Each footstep, Anakin half-expected to be discovered: by a creaking beneath his boots, a slip in his cloaking, or Darred's betrayal. Each step, he wanted to run, to sprint into the front room, stab Sabe and Vader in the heart, finish them once and for all, then whisk his family away from those monsters, hide them someplace safe where the Sith could never find them.

But he knew it couldn't end that perfectly, not if he was overly reckless anyhow. So he took the hallway carefully, one agonizing, slow footstep at a time.

They reached the front room without incident, and Anakin took a split second to consider his options: he could peek around the corner, try to asses the enemy before attacking. But they were so _close_ now, and despite his cloaking, Vader was looking for Anakin in particular. This near, Vader had to know he was there.

So Anakin did what he always did: he jumped right in, lightsaber swinging. Sabe was nearest, so he leapt upon the former handmaiden, dueling her with a viciousness that probably should've terrified him. As he beat her backwards, driving her to the wall, he cast out in the Force, searching for Vader.

_Behind you._

He whirled around, ducking the saber just in time, and turned to face them just as Acacia leapt to his side. Blue struck red: Anakin met Vader and Acacia met Sabe, then both pairs spun away like dancers in a lethal waltz. Vader and Anakin battled again almost immediately, but Acacia and Sabe paused to circle each other, and to glare, searching for a weakness her opponent could not hide.

They had both found their opening, both taken the offensive step forwards, when a shot was fired. The Jedi hearts wrenched, and the siblings kicked away from their opponents, creating enough distance for them to turn and face the shot. Standing next to a couch, was a Duros, one they both vaguely recognized, with his gun pointed at the twins. A tendril of smoke rose near Leia's head.

Anakin's heart stopped. _Oh Force no._

"Don't look so worried, Anakin," Vader said, carelessly sheathing his saber. "Choler is only authorized to fire a warning shot at your children, to convince you to pause and listen to my proposal." Though he couldn't see his face, Anakin could sense the smug smirk his clone was giving him. "Let's talk, shall we?"

For the first time that evening, Anakin looked at his wife. From the marks on her wrists, he could tell she'd been tied recently, but either Dorme or Darred must've freed her, because she now had a blaster in hand and looked ready to shoot the Duros dead whatever the consequences. He and Acacia had their lightsabers out, but by the time they pointed them at Vader and Sabe, he knew _their_ lightsabers would be pointed back at them. Dorme stood next to Padme, and Darred next to her, but Anakin knew better than to trust his brother-in-law, and, though Dorme was a skilled fighter, with Choler's gun aimed at the twins, they were at an infuriating stalemate.

Though Choler seemed a bit doubtful, Anakin couldn't _know_ if he was willing to sacrifice himself (as he definitely would) by shooting the twins. And the Jedi couldn't stake his children's lives on anything less than an 100% chance of survival.

_But I can't surrender either._

Finally, Anakin looked at his clone, barely containing the fury that boiled inside. "What do you _want,_ Ace?"

He could sense the other man's anger. "You know, I always hated that name."

"Well, if _that_ was all you were you mad about, you could've just said," Acacia muttered.

To her surprise, Vader laughed. "So some of you Jedi do have a sense of-"

"Let's get to the point, _Vader,"_ Anakin growled. He just wanted to kill the stupid clone and take his family _home._

"Well," Vader began, "as I'm sure you've all guessed, this is a trap, complete with predators, bait, and heroes imbecilic enough to come to the rescue."

Leia whimpered in her sleep, and Anakin's heart clenched. "If you've hurt them at all-"

"Don't be so dramatic, Anakin. All I want—all I've ever wanted—is you dead."

Anakin scoffed. "I really hope you're not gonna ask me to fall on my own lightsaber. We both know you'd kill them the minute I was dead."

"I _was_ hoping that you're as stupid as I remember, but no, I'm not going to ask you to kill yourself. In fact, I'm not going to _ask_ you to do to anything. But you are _going _to duel me."

Anakin didn't bother hiding his surprise, and neither did anyone else. _"Duel_ you?" he, Padme, and Acacia asked in unison.

"Don't sound so shocked. Last time, you stabbed me in the stomach and left me to burn on the banks of Mustafar." Vader gestured to his full-body armor as if no one would know what he was talking about otherwise. "It's not really surprising that I want a rematch. Shame there's no lava rivers, though. I'd love to throw you in."

Anakin scowled as his son mewled in his sleep and started to wake up. There was no _time_ for this. "So what else?" he asked. "Besides dueling you? What's your catch?"

A strange, breathy sound came from Vader's mask, and after a second, Anakin realized he was chuckling. "I guess you'll see," he said as he grabbed his lightsaber and the red shot out, scorching the floor with its heat. "Whoever wins the duel, wins it all: your children, your wife, your sister, Darred, if the victor wants him." He gestured casually to Anakin's brother-in-law. "Though I think we'll both be more interested in killing him when this is all over."

Anakin didn't reply. Mostly because it was the first time in fifteen years that he and Vader had agreed on anything.

Instead, it was Acacia who asked, "But why? Why would you give him a fair fight? And why have all our lives depending on you two? Because, frankly, I wanna fight for myself."

"One cannot always have what one wants, young Acacia," Vader replied in an infuriating but accurate rendition of a kind, wise old Master. "Besides," he added, turning back to her brother, "it was only Anakin I ever wanted to kill. The rest of you" He shrugged. "just got caught in his crossfire."

_Crap,_ Acacia thought, knowing what that line would do to her brother. _You can't trust him._

_I know._ But she knew he was already starting to.

"Why should he trust you to fight him fairly?" she asked, hoping she could get her brother to find another way—any other way—than one that had to be a trap.

"Because all I want is his head off his shoulders," Vader said, still staring through the blank mask at his donor. "But first, Anakin, I want you to duel me truly. I want to see the look on your face when you know you've done everything you can and you still failed. And then, and only then, will I kill you."

Anakin lit his lightsaber, and Acacia wondered if they'd already lost. "Not if I kill you first," her brother said.

Acacia could almost sense him smirking. "I'm sure you'll try."

"Anakin, wait—"

"No, Caish," he said, stepping forward to meet Vader. "This is my fight."

_And I'm going to win it._

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	35. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

As Vader swung, Anakin ducked, arching his neck and flipping backwards, kicking his opponent away. For the briefest of seconds, his eyes darted to his family: Padme, Acacia, the twins. They seemed fine for now, but Vader had put them in a crap-ton of danger and probably still meant to murder them. Red sparked at the edges of Anakin's vision. The Sith were going to pay for that.

The Jedi tried to keep the fight within the middle of the room to avoid accidentally hitting anyone (except maybe the other bad guys or Darred) who stood on the outskirts. Though the space was hardly wide enough for a duel, there was no furniture except for two chairs and the couch the twins laid on, as if Vader had cleared the room specifically for their fight.

The red came spinning for him again. Anakin met it with his own saber, the fusion of light creating a low hum that reverberated through the room. Again and again, they came at each other, with sabers, the Force, with feet and fists, whatever they could use to beat the other back. Last time they'd dueled, they'd been of equal physical strength. But with the addition of Vader's armor, his extra weight slowly but surely drove the Jedi back, and, being so focused on killing Vader and ending the fight, Anakin didn't even notice it. Only when Acacia sent him a mental shout of warning, did her brother realize his shoulder blade had touched the doorpost.

But he felt no fear; only fury. _So that's how it's going to be?_

Anakin gritted his teeth and shoved forward, kicking off Vader's advance, forcing _him_ backwards for once. He slashed at the Sith several times, the final one connecting as the edge of the blue saber sliced into Vader's bicep. The Sith roared in agony as his skin sizzled, and Anakin's lips twitched into a half-smile—that was almost immediately wiped off.

A scream from someone—he couldn't tell who—was all the warning he got, and it wasn't nearly enough. A swirl of Sith lightning shot for Anakin's chest, slamming home, sending his body soaring through the door into the grassy plains outside. Anakin struggled to his feet despite the pain; if he stayed down, he lost. If he lost, everyone that meant anything died.

"If you were as strong as you think, _Ani_"—he could practically hear Vader sneering—"the Force would've warned you about that. But I, for one, have grown stronger since last we met."

Why did that line sound familiar?

_Who cares?_

Anakin picked his saber off the ground, igniting it again as Vader stalked closer. "I thought you wanted to duel me truly, _Ace. _Then again, you probably don't even know the meaning of the word."

He could sense Vader's hatred rolling off him, the way the Sith harnessed it, pulling it back towards his core and letting it fuel him. "I probably don't," Vader replied. "But the real question is, do you?"

Anakin growled, and the two of them rushed for each other again. Outside the claustrophobic room, free from concerns about hitting any bystanders, both unleashed their full power. Vader was stronger and heavier, able to use his extra weight to force the Jedi to bend; but Anakin was faster and more agile, able to duck beneath the swings or leap over them, leaving Vader momentarily reeling.

And so they dueled: attacking, deflecting, advancing when they could, retreating only when forced, never pausing to talk or stopping for breath. They just _fought,_ sometimes artfully whirling their lightsabers, spinning and leaping like they were performers in a very dangerous dance; other times, they simply hacked at each other, hoping to wear the opponent down til he allowed the slightest drop in his defenses, just enough to end his life.

Vader found the hole first.

As Anakin deflected an under attack, Vader released three fingers from his hilt and shot another blast of lightning at Anakin's stomach. The Jedi rocketed backwards then slammed into land, but he held in his screams and gathered the Force, trusting it to warn him when Vader moved in for the kill.

_Now._

Anakin activated his lightsaber, just as the others dove for his throat. Vader bore down him, shoving him into the dirt, determined to end his life via pure strength and weight if such was necessary. As Anakin watched the lightsabers inch closer to his flesh, he could sense Vader's twisted joy. By the light of the sabers, he thought he saw his own ruined eyes gleaming at him from beneath the mask. But he shook that visage off. He had only one chance, a slim one, and he would have to focus completely on the Force to stay alive.

Anakin gathered the Light and shoved upwards, his arms burning, screaming from the strain; he ignored them to stay alive. But as he inched off the earth, Vader gathered the Dark and pressed down, forcing him to the grass again. Light and Dark battled one another, the Force at close quarters at war with itself, temporarily neutralized, but one had to win out in the end.

Anakin fell in the Force, thrust his arms forward, and Vader catapulted across the lawn.

The Jedi jumped to his feet as Vader crashed to the earth. Unfortunately, the Sith just managed to deactivate his lightsabers before they impaled him.

_Wait. Lightsabers?_

"Recognize this one?" Vader asked, as he forced himself to stand, only a few yards away from the hut now. "I pulled it out just to kill you with. It's your wife's."

Anakin rushed towards the buildings and dove for the Sith again. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Acacia, just feet away, embroiled in a fight of her own; but for the moment, there was nothing he could do to help her. He was in _his_ moment. His here, his now. And here, he would kill Vader.

Anakin found his opening.

Out of pride and exhaustion, Vader swung too wide. A surge of red glee rushed through Anakin's veins as he swung his lightsaber across Vader's control panel. Alarms blared, whirring and screaming, and Anakin stabbed again as Vader buckled to his knees. He spun his lightsaber in his hands, staring down at his clone, as he prepared to deliver the final stroke.

A shock of warning in the Force. _The twins._

"Stop!" Sabe's voice. "If you want your children to live, just stop."

He whipped around. Hand raised, Sabe stood a few feet away, and the twins hovered several yards in the air, tethered to nothing but Sabe's knowledge of the Force.

* * *

The second Vader followed Anakin out the door, the temporary truce ended. The tension in the room crackled, as each side warily eyed the other.

Acacia sensed something sounding in the Force. A warning.

"Vader may have his plans." Sabe smiled slightly. "But they are not as comprehensive as they ought to be." The traitor activated her lightsaber as running steps echoed from the back room, and Acacia whirled around to find two thugs rushing in. "Choler and his men are going to kill your friends," Sabe continued, "and I am going to kill you, mini-Jedi."

Fury flared through Acacia, but she pushed it away, concentrating on combat as Sabe's lightsaber flew for her face. There wasn't enough space in the room to have a true duel, and she didn't particularly want to follow her brother's example and be bodily thrown out the door. So she retreated through the splintered doorway, leading Sabe out into the open field where they'd have more room to maneuver.

Sabe attacked carefully but viciously, thinking she was beating Acacia backwards, not stopping to realize she was being led on. One step at a time, Acacia guided her away from the building, deflecting her flurry of charges, waiting for exactly the right second...

_Here we go._

As the saber arced down to slice her in half, Acacia ducked away, slipping beneath the red, pivoting the other way to kick Sabe in the back. The traitor lost her balance, but whirled around as she toppled, and just as Acacia drove her lightsaber in for the kill, Sabe Force-Pushed her backwards.

Acacia somersaulted through the air, knowing she'd hit the hut in a second, knowing exactly how much it would hurt when she slammed into that outside wall—knowing, unfortunately, that there was nothing she could do about it.

_Wham!_

Pain ripped through her body, and she prayed inwardly that nothing had broken. _Get up, get_ up_!_ she screamed at herself. True, Sabe had taken a bit of tumble, but she was most assuredly coming and coming fast.

But Acacia's body wouldn't cooperate. The girl shook her head, trying to shove away her pain and force herself to rise, but it only made the agony worse. She allowed herself a groan—it would've taken extra energy to suppress it—and tried to make herself get up again. If Sabe wasn't already upon her, she would be soon, and Acacia didn't particularly want to die if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

She forced heavy lids to open—maybe the sight of death would give her enough motivation—but Sabe wasn't coming at her. Instead, the traitor stood transfixed, watching Anakin and Vader duel. Or, more accurately, watching Anakin as he swept his lightsaber across Vader's control panel, and prepared to take the Sith Lord's life.

_At least that fight ended well._

Sabe thrust out her arm, and Acacia braced herself, expecting to feel strangling or lightning or some other unpleasantness, but the action was not for her. Split seconds later, the twins came careening out the door, suspended in the air, protected by nothing but Sabe's knowledge of the Force. Padme ran after them, fighting Sabe's pull, but her powers weren't strong enough to bring the babies down.

"Stop!" Sabe called as Acacia finally forced herself to rise. "If you want your children to live, just stop."

Anakin did. He turned to stare at the twins, and Acacia sensed the fury and the hate billowing in him. But more than that, she sensed the helplessness, that power to do_ absolutely nothing,_ that was all too familiar and all too strong.

"Put them down, Sabe," Anakin said in a voice that could burn Hoth to ashes.

"Fascinating choice of words." The twins bobbed in the air; Padme reached out again, and Acacia tried to, but everything in her body rebelled against the idea. So maybe Sabe wasn't great in a duel, but she could Force-Push like nobody's business.

Anakin looked over at his sister, and desperate not to fail him, she tried again to snatch the babies from the sky. The girl just managed a hold, but it was weak and she couldn't know how long it would actually last.

"Let us go," Sabe said, voice shaking. "Just let us go."

Acacia didn't have to read her brother's mind to know how much he hated that idea; she also didn't have to read his mind to know that he'd do anything to save his children.

But before he had the chance to voice his choice, Darred, Choler, and Dorme barreled out the door, and Darred tackled Sabe to the ground. She gasped in surprise, losing focus to ward off his attack, releasing the babies to plunge through the open air.

Anakin and Acacia both reached out—she inwardly screaming with the strain—and each grabbed a twin and held on, pulling on the Force, the thread that held them all, to halt their drop before they hit the ground. The babies woke up and screamed as they fell—Luke into his father's arms, Leia into her aunt's.

With the twins temporarily safe, Padme whirled around and lifted her gun. She fired once, twice, three times. Choler's body jerked and spasmed, then collapsed next to Darred's.

_Wait, just Darred's?_

The men's bodies laid alone. Sabe was nowhere in sight.

Acacia handed her niece off to Dorme, searching with the Force for Sabe and Vader. She needn't have bothered. A second later, the roar of a speeder bike announced the Siths' escape.

They'd lost them. Again.

"Are they okay?" Padme's voice, the mother running up to inspect her children.

"Yeah." Anakin nodded, as the twins' sniffles turned to coos and they offered small smiles up to their family. "It seems like it."

Padme almost cried with relief as she took her son in her arms, and Dorme smiled down at the infant twins; but as Anakin released Luke, his eyes met his sister's and both their joy soured. For now, yes, everyone was safe.

But they both knew it couldn't last.

* * *

**Author's Note: ****Hey all! Just wanted to let you know that I'm going to camp next week, so SotB will be on a short hiatus before we switch into part two. I'm really sorry this one's moving so much slower than my other stories, but all of the sudden, life is happening to me and I've gotten busy, lol. :p Never fear though, I will definitely complete this story and as quickly as I can without sacrificing any writing quality. You guys deserve the best that I can give, and I wouldn't wanna just slap a chapter up here that wasn't as well-written as I could make it. I hope you all understand and continue to read and enjoy my series! And thanks for sticking with us thus far. :D**


	36. Chapter 34

**Hello all! I am finally back! Thank you so much for your patience with me! Without further ado, here's...**

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Chapter 34

The minute he awoke, he knew his plan had failed.

Through the darkness behind his mask, Vader's eyes found Sabe's, watching him. "You're awake," she said, and he felt relief oozing out of her Forcemark. "I was so worried."

He struggled to sit, using the Force to suppress the pain, and took stock of his situation. He lay on a cot, surrounded by metal, the quiet churning of engines in his ears. Behind Sabe was the control panel of... a starship. They were running away.

Fury simmered in his heart. "We lost."

"We can regroup and—"

"No!" He shook his head, controlling, not suppressing, the boiling hate and anger. "We lost."_ Anakin has beaten me_ again_._

Sabe's lips folded together, like she was holding her useless words in. "This battle, yes," she finally murmured. "But when we return to Coruscant—"

"Return? Are you insane?" He leapt to his feet in spite of the pain that prowled and ripped at his nerve endings. "Change the nav-calcs. Go _anywhere_ that isn't Coruscant."

"But, m'lord—"

"What is it you're not capable of understanding? We've _failed,_ and my master won't tolerate our bungled defeats any longer. If we return, he might even _kill_ us." Nevermind that Sabe was never meant to make it through this. "No, we have to hide for now. At least until we have another plan to end the Skywalkers."

Sabe didn't speak again, though as she changed the nav-calcs, she kept watching him over her shoulder, strangely, as if she worried about his sanity. But at least she did as he asked and asked no further questions.

Once when her eyes returned to the controls, Vader eased back onto the cot, the searing pain from standing now too intense to ignore. He relaxed—as much as he could anyway—and his body rested; but his mind whirred, clipping along like a droid given a task. He had to recover, and he had to come up with a plan.

For years while his Master groomed him in the Dark, Sidious was the only other being Vader knew. Having spent so much time with the Dark Lord, clinging to his every word, repeating his every gesture, Vader knew his master, far better than even Sidious could guess. He knew him well enough to know what his next move would be, knew him well enough to know the exact moment he would realize Vader wasn't come back.

Knew him well enough to know that he would not tolerate failure. Not this many times. If Vader was stupid enough to return and caught his Master in a good mood, Sidious would throw him out and set the Senate on him; if Sidious was not in a good mood (as was far more likely), he would torture Vader, then kill him on the spot.

No, the armored man shook his head. He could never go home. Not until he proved to his Master—and himself—that he was not a failure.

* * *

Vader had not returned.

Not that he was worried of course. He was the Emperor and Vader was an occasionally useful pawn, so there was nothing to _worry_ about. But it was somewhat... concerning that the boy had elected not to report back to him.

In fact, it could only mean one thing, and Sidious rather hated the idea.

He ground his teeth together. Stupid, useless boy! He'd failed again, _undoubtedly,_ he'd failed again, that miserable cud of a half-man. He should've left him to die on Mustafar—no, should've left him to die years ago when he first discovered him on Tatooine. He should've left Ace to the scientists and stolen Anakin _then,_ instead of attempting to control both sides of a painfully cloudy prophecy.

_The one_ from_ whom... _

_Or the one_ for_ whom..._ Few Sith could agree on the translation. The original language was Seeira, an ancient tongue predating both the Sith and the Jedi. Generations ago, when the prophecy was discovered, less than a hundred in the Galaxy could read the language, and none could translate it for certain. So each picked the version he or she liked best and passed it on as fact. The Jedi blindly trusted the one their elders had chosen to believe; the Sith puzzled over the two, fried the ancient parchments in frustration, and, if they happened to be Darths Plagueis and Sidious, decided to make the prophecy come about on their own, watch closely, and thus determine which would actually be the case.

Not that curiosity had been the sole purpose of Anakin's creation—far from it—but Darth Plagueis at least had found the watching-and-waiting bit rather fascinating.

_Pity he never made it past that part,_ Sidious thought dryly.

When the Dark Lord met Ace, felt the rage stirring in the boy, he'd thought he'd known. After all, it had taken only a nudge to turn him to the Dark, whereas young Anakin had been bursting with light; it was almost blinding. The Dark had warned Sidious that if he attempted to turn the boy now, Anakin would only work against him. Careful grooming must take place, years and years of conditioning, before the boy was anywhere near ready to turn.

And now, it was nearly time.

But if that _idiot_ Vader was the only one who could defeat Anakin, then either it was even more imperative that Anakin be drawn to the Dark—Vader always was a failure, so why break pattern simply because an age-old prophecy was on the line?—or said prophecy had grossly overestimated Anakin's power.

Because Sidious had always had a plan to solve the former, and because he'd seen and felt Anakin's potential up close, he decided to trust in the first option.

So maybe he'd made a mistake in choosing Ace over Anakin. Maybe he should've taken Anakin then and forced him to turn, whatever the Force had to say about it. Maybe, more than fifteen years ago, the curiosity of seeing how the Lighter boy would be broken and turned had addled his good sense. Even so, that mistake could be rectified—perhaps not easily, but it was far from impossible, even a few parsecs off from difficult.

After all, he was the Emperor now. Sidious grinned, glancing over at the document he'd been compiling for the past few days. Finally, he could do as he liked.

Including flushing out that little pawn who still thought he was a Jedi.

_You're mine, Anakin. From before you were born, you've been mine._

So Vader had failed. Let him run off with his useless lover and imagine that he was safe for a few months. When Sidious could be bothered to do so, he would hunt him down, cut out his organs, watch him writhe, and revel in his screams, make him _pay_ for his stupidity and arrogance.

Until then, Anakin remained the objective. And what Darth Sidious wanted, he made sure to get.

* * *

When Anakin entered the house, his wife was on the sofa, a baby in each arm, waiting up for him. "How'd they take it?" she asked he sat down.

"Typho's family?" Anakin took Leia as he tried to decide what to say. "As well as can be expected, I guess."

His wife sighed and closed her eyes. "And Sola?"

Anakin paused. Truthfully, he was pretty sure his sister-in-law was still in shock, but he didn't think that information would help his wife's frame of mind.

But Padme knew him too well and after a few seconds of silence, she nodded. "That bad then?" Her voice didn't even tremble; she was that good at masking her pain.

"I think she's ... upset and confused. Still trying to process, you know? And she can't talk to him while he's out. She... does want to speak to you as soon as possible, though."

Padme nodded again. "Of course."

But Anakin sensed her hesitation, and it made him wonder if she actually would.

After a short stretch of silence, she swallowed. "What is... what is Typho's family planning to do with him?"

"Private family burial." Anakin turned to look her in the eyes. "But they understand that he died defending you, and they still believe in you, Padme. They want you to come."

She nodded slowly, but when she didn't reply, Anakin ventured a question. "Do you want to go?"

She let out a harsh scoff. "_Yes._" Her eyes closed and her head shook. "I'm sorry.

"But we need to lie low for a while. After all that's happened. I mean, Sabe... _Darred_—_"_ She stopped herself, breathed deeply, then restarted. "We need to regroup, get our bearings and figure out what to do next. We can't be seen in public right now." She paused, then ended in a whisper. "Not even for Typho's funeral."

Secretly, Anakin agreed: Padme and the twins needed to stay out of sight, at least for now. At the same time though, he could feel her pain—almost literally—and he knew it would be easier to bear if she at least had the chance to say goodbye.

Then again, that only made it _slightly_ better.

Anger simmered, growing to fury, boiling to hatred at Darred, at Sabe, at Vader... at _himself._ How could he have let this happen anyway? How could he not foresee Sabe's betrayal? What in the worlds was—

He clamped down on the fury, reminding himself that he was a Jedi not a Sith, making himself remember where these emotions led. The hatred cooled and shriveled, then curled up in a deeper part of his heart.

He leaned over to kiss his wife on the forehead and used his free hand to wipe away the tears lingering on her face. "I'm so sorry, Padme."

She sniffed and shook her head. "This isn't your fault."

And then the anger swelled back, because it _was._ After all his working, all his searching, all his _trying,_ he hadn't even managed to find the spy. Sabe had shown herself and on Vader's terms. _Yes,_ he'd subdued them and _yes,_ he'd gotten his family back, but he hadn't defeated them. Not really.

For most intents and purposes, he'd failed.

Padme shook her head, knowing enough of the Force and, most of all, knowing him well enough to know where his brain was going. "This isn't your fault, Ani, and you didn't fail. The twins and I are here because of _you."_

But if he'd found the traitors earlier, they wouldn't have been put through that at all.

Still, he had a feeling this was something they could never agree on, and, this once, he didn't want to start an argument. He opened his mouth to change the subject, ask where Acacia was or Dorme or something, when his senses suddenly honed and he sensed Dorme down the hall and his sister slumped into the chair across the room. In spite of all that had happened, his mouth edged up upon spotting Acacia, eyes closed, hair in her face, adorably fast asleep. "Is she okay?"

"Acacia? I think she will be. Her ribs and back are bruised, but nothing's broken. Give her a few weeks of rest and she should be okay."

Anakin scoffed and muttered. "But what are the odds she'll _get_ those weeks of rest?"

He hadn't meant for Padme to hear him, but a second later, she replied, "Not high."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**Author's Note: I'm working now, so I won't update every week, and, obviously, it won't be on Fridays anymore. Just whenever I finish a chapter, I'll post it. At most, there should be two weeks between each one, but I'll aim for a week and a half. :) See you next time!**


	37. Chapter 35

**Hello, awesome people! Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

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Chapter 35

They went to see Darred the next day.

He'd been released from the hospital rather swiftly, since Sola could continue his treatment at home, and Padme wanted to see her brother-in-law before they decided on their next move. Though Anakin wanted his wife to stay safe, he didn't object to this trip. Sola and Darred's house was only minutes away from theirs, almost as secluded, and besides, seeing Darred would be productive. They could finally find out how much Sabe, Vader, and therefore Sidious, knew about their family, and from there, exactly how much danger Darred had put them in. And, as Padme rather wanted to know, they could finally find out why in all the worlds Darred had betrayed them in the first place.

Everyone went—Padme, Anakin, Acacia, Dorme, the twins—since they couldn't know when the Sith would try another attempt, and Anakin wouldn't repeat the mistake of letting a single family member out of his range of protection.

They entered the house, strangely silent, like the very walls themselves knew of Darred's betrayal and were too shocked to say anything in response to it. Acacia, Dorme, and the twins settled in the living room, but Padme and Anakin continued down the hall to Darred and Sola's room, Padme to ask the questions, Anakin to make sure she'd be safe. And, secretly, to ensure Darred answered her questions if he seemed a little reluctant.

They walked quickly through the house, Anakin carefully scanning each room they passed, wondering if Darred was still against them, if someone lurked in the shadows or behind a closed door, waiting for the moment to pounce. But he sensed no foreign ForceMarks; Darred and Sola were ahead in their room, and their daughters hid in their own chambers, pretending to play, really whispering about what little they knew and speculating over all that they didn't.

But even if he didn't sense anything, that didn't mean the Sith weren't here; they could be Cloaking after all, and then he probably wouldn't know it until they leapt for his throat or tried to relieve him of his head.

Anakin's hand brushed his lightsaber as they entered Darred and Sola's room.

He searched in the Force as they door inched open, but all that he sensed was all he could see: Darred, pale and pained in his bed, arm in a sling, chest wrapped in gauze from the lightsaber that had narrowly missed gutting him. Sola stood beside her husband, still holding his shirt and the roll of bloodstained bandages she'd just changed. Her normal, bright smile had disappeared, replaced by tight eyebrows, a trembling jaw, and tears glittering in her eyes.

"Padme." Darred tried to sit as the door shut behind them, but he fell back to his pillows with a grunt. "I'm so—"

"I don't want an apology," Padme said coldly, and Darred flinched but held her gaze. "I want answers."

He nodded. "Of course."

"How long have you been spying."

His eyes darted away. "Not long."

"More specific, if you don't mind."

"Padme..." Sola started, as if to ask her sister to be kinder. But then she shook her head and simply put away the bandages, like even she couldn't find a reason to request mercy.

"Almost two months," Darred admitted, facing Padme again. "They approached me about a week after the twins were born."

"Why you?"

"Sabe needed someone to..." Darred breathed deeply, like only speaking the word could make the action more real. "To spy on you while you were at home, since she couldn't be here all the time. I never headed any attempts—I _swear—_but they needed someone who had a right to know everything about your lives, even the insignificant bits you wouldn't think to tell Sabe."

"There are few things I tell you that I wouldn't have told Sabe if she asked me."

"True. But you might've grown suspicious if she asked too much. And besides, there are other things..." Darred's gaze slipped sideways. "Things you tell Sola."

Padme's eyes slid to her sister in horror. "Sola, you didn't..."

"No," Darred added quickly. "She had no idea. But..." He looked desperately at his wife as Sola shrank away from him, "you talk to me sometimes."

"And you _used_ that," Sola whispered, like she couldn't find the voice to speak aloud.

"I had to! They threatened_ our daughter,_ Sola."

"You could've asked for help! Could've gone to the authorities—"

"What authorities? They _are_ the authorities!"

"Anakin could've—"

"_What_?" Darred spat, his voice suddenly full of venom. "He's not some sort of hero, Sola!" He turned to glare at Anakin, eyes alive with a disgust usually reserved for cockroaches and deathworms. "He's just a man."

"A man who didn't betray his own family," Anakin shot back, anger boiling upwards and spilling over to saturate every syllable.

"No," Darred admitted, calming a little. "But a man who's done plenty of wrong. Letting my entire city burn for instance." Anakin flinched, but Darred continued before the Jedi could fire off a reply. "They convinced me that you were the enemy. And _no,_ it wasn't difficult. I already knew you Jedi aren't what you seem. I already knew you _let_ people die—"

"That's not what happened!"

"So no, it wasn't hard for me to believe you were dangerous. And in a toss-up between my daughter and you and your sister, Anakin." Darred shrugged with little regret. "I'm afraid you two were the obvious sacrifice."

"I would've helped you." Anakin seethed. "Not for your sake, but for Pooja's. Because somehow she didn't inherit your—"

"Enough," Padme stated. "So, Darred, you're saying you only intended to hand my husband and my sister-in-law over to the Sith, but never than me and my children?" Under some circumstances, her wording may have implied forgiveness if the answer to the question was yes; but this circumstance was not one of them. Everyone in the room could hear the dangerous undertone to her words, and Darred knew forgiveness wasn't currently in reach. But he also knew the truth was the only thing that could bring it closer.

"Yes," he admitted. "They said the Jedi had to be ended. I didn't disagree. Sabe promised they'd... kill only Anakin and Acacia, then she'd bring you in and help you understand how the Jedi had fought the Emperor and betrayed the galaxy. She'd show you their evil, and you'd understand."

Padme shook her head. "And you _believed_ her?"

"I..." Darred sighed, and the last of his defiance evaporated. "I chose to, yes. I couldn't let Pooja be taken to the academy, so I allowed myself to be blinded by all of Sabe's excuses."

"Her lies," Padme corrected.

"Yes, her lies. But," He lifted his eyes—now pleading—to Padme. "It was _Pooja._ I knew they'd turn her into some sort of— of killing machine if I let her get sent to those Sith schools. I couldn't—" His voice broke, but he took a shaky breath, swallowed, and continued. "I couldn't let that happen to my baby girl."

"So you sold my husband out instead."

Darred nodded miserably, and Sola turned away.

But Padme wasn't finished yet. "All right." She nodded once, and her voice was cold, detached, no longer Darred's relative, close as a sister, but something distant, a diplomat come to interrogate a prisoner. "So how much did you tell them? Everything?"

"Whatever would help them with their mission."

Padme took that as a yes. "Do you know how long Sabe was spying? Did they have any further plans?"

Darred shook his head. "They didn't tell me things like that, Padme. Every trap I knew about has already been sprung. And now you know everything I knew."

"Everything?"

"Yes, Padme! I'm not your enemy! I shouldn't have done what I did, I realize that now, and I know I can never repay you and my apologies will never be enough, but I'm _sorry."_

Padme's gaze met her brother-in-law's, and she searched his eyes as if looking for something precious and priceless, then shook her head like it was lost forever. "So am I."

* * *

The procession home was a silent one. The twins had fallen asleep, Padme had received her answers, Anakin mentally debriefed Acacia on them, and Dorme asked no questions, knowing Padme would tell her all she needed to know when she needed to know it. Besides, the pain and anger in the air was palpable, tastible; it wrapped around the soul so thoroughly, they could hardly break it to speak a word.

As they reentered their home, silent with no malicious presences, Padme's commlink beeped.

"It's Sola," she said, stepping aside briefly to speak with her sister. "She says they're something on the HoloNews we need to see."

It was a recap of the Emperor's latest address: a list of thefts, assaults, even murders, supposedly committed by Jedi. The Emperor graciously took the blame for these attacks, claiming he should've ensured the Jedi's extermination sooner. However, in a gesture of glorious bravery (according to the commentator), the Emperor intended to rectify that mistake—by personally overseeing the final stages of Act 66: discovering every Jedi and ending their cursed Order once and for all.

Unfortunately for the Skywalkers, it was impossible to hear any plans beyond that—because the crowd's cheering drowned out any further words. Anakin hadn't thought he could be any more angry, but seeing the people clapping and whistling and screaming their approval almost made him see red again.

Luke cooed in his arms; the red faded to a light pink tinging the edges of his vision.

"Is everything in this room breakable?" Acacia suddenly asked from her perch on the couch.

Padme glanced around. "Yes. Why?"

"Because, after seeing that, I really need to throw something."

Anakin gave a half-chuckle that was only a quarter humor. "You and me both."

"You're holding a child. That would be a poor idea."

Anakin cast his sister a withering look. "You're _kidding_."

"Milady," Dorme broke in before the siblings could get started, "they are trying to flush you all out. This law will be only one of many to find and kill every Jedi in the Galaxy. You _have_ to get away from here."

"I agree, Dorme." The senator nodded. "But where can we go? Sabe knows everything about my safehouses, my emergency contacts, my friends in the Senate. Going to any of them would be as dangerous as staying here."

"Aren't there any Jedi safehouses?" Dorme asked, turning to the Jedi in the room.

"A few," Acacia said. "But those aren't real _safe_ either. Sidious _is_ looking for Jedi after all, and clustering us all together is exactly what the Council was trying to avoid by sending so many of us away. Besides," she added, glaring at the sofa beneath her, like she could somehow manage to pick and throw that, "most of the safehouses were raided in Order 66."

Dorme nodded slowly. "And the ones that remain?"

"We only know for sure that one does. It was super old, so Sidious probably doesn't even know it exists.

"But the problem is it's on Coruscant."

"If we have to run," Anakin agreed, "we need to be getting farther away. Not closer."

"But he's overseeing this operation to, well, hunt the Jedi." Padme winced a little at her own statement, but went on because they had to deal with the fact. "So maybe he's leaving Coruscant. Then we could stay there in his absence."

"But we don't know _when_ he's leaving," Acacia pointed out, "so we can't know when it'll actually be safe to go there."

"Besides that, it could be a ploy. Maybe he _wants_ us to give ourselves away by going to Coruscant. Or maybe he'll leave immediately and try to catch us here on Naboo." She shook her head, kicking the couch since a harmless projectile was unavailable. "We can't really know what he plans to do next."

"What about Utapau?" Padme asked. "Isn't that a Jedi planet now? And your friend, Koresck, he's there, right? Maybe he could help us."

Before Anakin could say what a brilliant idea that was, his sister opened her mouth again, "Mostly, yeah, but it's also a war post. And Sidious is constantly attacking it—quietly, but constantly, from what Obi-Wan told us. If we were safe there, it wouldn't be for long, especially with Sidious personally tracking the Jedi." Acacia scoffed and shook her head again. "Though I'm starting to wonder if anywhere is safe for us anymore."

_Tattooine._ The thought buzzed through Anakin's head like a sand gnat, small and quiet, but thoroughly annoying because it existed.

"Tatooine?" Acacia asked, catching the word before he could swat it away. "You think that's a good idea?"

Padme frowned. "But the Emperor already knows you came from there."

"Exactly," Acacia exclaimed, suddenly grinning. "And he knows Anakin _hates_ the planet. Didn't you tell him a million times that you'd never go back? _Ever?_ For _anything?"_

Anakin could see where this was going—and he wasn't a fan of the discussion's direction. "Yeah, but—"

"And from what he knows of you," Anakin's sister barreled over his words, "he'll think you still mean it. He probably knows we'll try to get offplanet, but he'll check one of Padme's safehouses or even Utapau first. Tattooine'll be a lot lower on his list."

Padme was still frowning, but now her expression seemed less confused and more thoughtful. "How do you figure?"

"Sidious will trust in his own knowledge. He won't check Tatooine—not at first anyway—because from what he knows of Anakin, there's nothing left for him there. But," She turned towards her brother. "the Jedi and your best friend are on Utapau. And you'd rather go to them than go home."

For once, Anakin had nothing to say. Sometimes he forgot that just as Darred and Sabe had betrayed Padme, Palpatine had betrayed him. The former-Chancellor had been his mentor, friend, confidante; Anakin had told him many things that he now wished Sidious didn't know.

_But maybe,_ Acacia whispered, _we can use that knowledge against him._

"So you think Tatooine is the safest place for us right now?" Padme asked.

"Nowhere's safe," Acacia replied, answering her own question from moments before. "But Tatooine, for now at least, I think it's as safe as we can get. Like I said, we can't know what Sidious intends to do next, so we have to stick with what we _do_ know. Tatooine is in the Outer Rim, so pretty far from Coruscant even if he does figure out where we're going. And from what he knows of us, it's one of the least likely places we'd decide to go. Plus, even though Vader might know Tatooine a little, it's a big planet and the farm is pretty isolated. From there to the nearest city, there's just miles and miles of nothing but sand. Besides, even if somebody did find out were there, Tattooinians are pretty tight-lipped."

"They'll talk for money," Anakin said. "And they'll talk if they're threatened."

"Yeah, but ideally, we won't even be there long enough for Sidious to realize we _were_ there.

"I'm not saying we should stay forever, or even for a week," she went on, and Anakin knew she was mostly speaking to him. "I'm saying a few days on the farm til we can figure out somewhere better."

_Besides. You did promise._

Padme couldn't even hear the final nail in Acacia's argument, but she could see the logic in the rest of her words. "She makes some great points," Padme admitted. "At the moment, it looks like your old homeplanet is our best bet. At least for the next couple of days."

_How far have we fallen,_ Anakin wondered, staring down at his son, _that for "safety," Tatooine is the best I can do for you._

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	38. Chapter 36

**Hello everyone! Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

* * *

Chapter 36

They were in hyperspace.

After choosing their next step, life had been a whirlwind of Force-Healing Acacia, packing necessities, and securing a private ship unaffiliated with the Nabooian Senate. Dorme was to stay at the house to cover for them in case anyone came around, but she wasn't even allowed to let Padme's family know about the departure for at least five days, ensuring the Skywalkers had enough time to make it to Tatooine, regroup, and be nearly gone again before anyone could come after them.

With all the backtracking and double-checking and swift short glances behind them, the last twenty-four hours had been stressful and strained, made exponentially worse by the bitter feeling in Anakin's mind everytime he remembered he was running away, abandoning his post like a coward. But he had to do what he had to do to keep his family safe. Right now that meant running—to Tatooine of all places.

But the hardest part was finally over, and no even was even aware they'd left Naboo. In a matter of hours, they'd be back on Anakin's homeplanet; shortly after that, they'd return to Acacia's childhood home.

For now, though, they were zooming through hyperspace, so to give his brain something to work with, Anakin sat alone in the front of the ship, examining the damage Sabe had dealt to R2. A jagged crack scarred down the back of the astromech's casing, but more importantly, R2 wouldn't even turn on. Somehow, Sabe had snapped a major circuit plate and scrambled the droid's interface, whether with the Force, brute force, or both, Anakin couldn't know for sure. He had no idea if this was something he could actually fix—he might have to buy a new plate and remake R2 completely—but it was the only thing he could work on for now, and he intended to give it everything he had.

And maybe he'd actually manage to perform this task properly.

Like it had since he was young, the tinkering soothed him. As his hands repaired, his mind sifted through the recent events stored in the back of his head; he lost himself in the work as his brain sorted through the problems, searched for a solution... just like his hands sorted through R2's broken pieces and found new ways to put them back together.

A twinge in the Force.

Anakin's focus snapped, but he didn't even have time to tense before his ForceMark recognized the presence: _Acacia._

He turned to see his sister enter from the back, rubbing her eyes blearily as if she'd just woken up. She gave him a small smile when she noticed he was watching and came over to sit beside him.

"Hey," he said aloud, since no one else was around and, at the moment, he rather preferred his private thoughts to remain private. "You sure you're okay to be up?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine. I was a little tired from the Force-Healing, and now, I'm kinda still waking up."

He winked. "Laziness has its consequences."

"You'd know," she replied with an eye roll, and before he could let out his own sarcastic reply, she went on, "You think you can fix him?"

The sarcasm vanished, taking his second of contentment with it. "I don't know for sure."

Acacia nodded, then shifted closer, wordlessly helping him for several minutes, holding tools or moving plates; the siblings worked in silent tandem and comfortable companionship, ignoring all that was around them, pretending they didn't feel the tension that lurked from their hearts to every cranny of the ship, tightening the air around them till breathing was like having an asthma attack.

_Calm down._

_We can make it._

Eventually, Acacia spoke up, "Can I ask you something?"

He paused to glance over at her. "Sure."

"Have you noticed anything... well, _weird_ since your visit to the Realm?"

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Uh... no?"

She gave a little shrug. "Well, I guess _you_ wouldn't notice unless it was something huge. But like, lately, I feel like I've been able to sense a bit more than normal. I think it's part of the reason why I've got this tug to go to Tatooine. There's... there's something there, Ani. I swear. And it's important."

"Okay..." Anakin replied, choosing not to debate the fact that she might be delusional. "But _I_ haven't noticed anything different."

"You harnessed the energy of a nuclear reactor."

He smirked. "One-time thing."

"Okay, _maybe_. But how about some smaller, not-one-time things?"

"Like what?"

"Like how you cloaked us from Sabe and Vader—as much as I'd like to deny it, there's no way I could've kept myself hidden alone for that long. And the way you said you beat Vader? He should've killed you when he had you pinned, yet you somehow managed to evade him. Plus, you told me you sensed from rooms away what Ryoo and Pooja were talking about just by concentrating on them. You helped me mend my ribs completely, when neither of us have ever had enough focus for Force-Healing—."

"Okay, okay, I get the point. But what are you _getting_ at, Caish?"

She frowned thoughtfully and chewed her lip for a second. "I don't know," she said finally. "I was kinda hoping you'd have a theory."

Anakin snorted. "Caish, you know I don't theorize."

She smirked and shrugged. "I was hoping for a one-time thing."

"But maybe," she added after a moment. "Maybe we should mention it to the Council at some point. See if there are any Jedi teachings about the Realm."

"I don't know, Caish..." her brother replied. "This isn't really something I want the whole Council in on."

"So we just ask Obi-Wan." When Anakin didn't reply, his sister pushed a little further, "It's just that... I feel like this is important. _Everything_ that's been happening is important: all the attacks we've had—on the way to Coruscant, in the Lower Levels, the other day—it's all gearing up to something. Like Dorme said, that bill's only the first of many; each attack is only one of a bigger plan."

Anakin stopped tinkering for a moment, flipping a screwdriver in his gloved hand as he weighed his sister's words. "You think Sidious is planning for something."

"He wants us dead and he wants you on his side. He's not gonna give up just because Vader failed. And... don't flip, but... I still think we should talk to the Council as a whole."

"Caisha—."

"Look, if Sidious is gearing up to something big, it'll concern them too, right? Besides, maybe we could talk privately with Obi-wan about... well, whatever's going on with us."

After a moment, Anakin gave a grudging nod. "Fine. We'll contact them as soon as we're settled somewhere."

The siblings relapsed into silence—this one even shorter than the last. Seconds later, Padme came in the cockpit. "Hey," Anakin sent his wife a little smile. "Are the twins asleep?"

Even as he asked and she replied, Anakin focused, testing Acacia's theory, and he could _feel_ them, a few rooms away at the back of the ship, quiet, happy, as if they were right there in his—

"No, 3PO's watching them," Padme said with a quiet sigh. "He was desperate to do _something; _he's so upset about 'failing us' as he says."

"Failing us?"

"He was powered down while we were captured. Feels like he should've protected us somehow."

"Funny to be saying this about a droid," Acacia muttered dryly, "but maybe someone should talk to him."

Anakin chuckled but with little humor. "Yeah, probably. Otherwise, _we'll _never hear the end of it."

"Before that, though," Padme interrupted, "I actually wanted to talk with you both. I've been thinking—"

"Oh dear."

Padme gave a quick laugh. "Quiet, Ani. As I was saying... I've been thinking, how much do the Sith know? How much could... could Darred and Sabe have told Vader?"

Anakin shook his head, shoving a screwdriver into one of R2's panels. "Everything, I'd guess."

"But if they told them everything, all there was to know, couldn't they have caught us weeks ago?"

Anakin nodded slowly, understanding her train of thought, at the same time as Acacia caught on. "Yeah, probably. So why didn't they"

Padme shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they only started spying a few months ago. Maybe they _didn't_ tell them everything. Maybe Vader wanted to lure us into that trap, specifically." Padme sighed and shook her head. "Maybe we'll never really know."

They fell into silence again, but as far as those answers went, Anakin wasn't sure he cared. All he knew was he was sick of feeling useless, sick of screwing up, _sick_ of failing. So maybe they'd never know the full truth, maybe they _were_ running away to Tatooine to regroup. But Sidious had better believe he'd be coming back.

And when he did, it'd be with his lightsaber on and swinging for that son of a sarlacc's throat

* * *

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**Author's Note: I wrote a Hunger Games fanfiction with a friend of mine involving characters from our original manuscript in the Hunger Games. I don't think I can put a link in the chapter itself, but if you go to my profile, the story should be there. Hope you guys check that one out too and enjoy it! :D**


	39. Chapter 37

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* * *

Chapter 37

The sand swirled around her body, gently brushing her skin before dashing away. Acacia grinned. Until they'd landed, even she couldn't have guessed how thrilled she'd be to be back on her homeplanet, but here she was now, feeling almost as bright as the two suns above. They were still about half a mile out from the homestead, but there was a part of Acacia that wanted to sprint the whole way.

Because of the luggage she was carrying, though, and her slower-moving companions, she continued at their walking pace. Also, knowing that her brother was cursing every particle of sand that came within five feet of him, she tried to keep her grinning to a minimum.

That, however, did not stop him from reading her mind. _Glad_ someone's_ happy,_ he grumbled.

_Oh don't be such a baby, Brother! It's gorgeous out here! The suns are shining_—

_It's hot._

_The sand dunes are huge, and look at the mioa bits sparkle!_

_You could suffocate in that much dirt._

Acacia snorted, which made Padme raise her eyebrows, then just shake her head, knowing the siblings well enough to know when they were using telepathy.

_Fine._ Acacia shrugged. _Have a bad time if you're so dead-set on it. I, for one, am going to enjoy myself._

_You do that,_ Anakin grunted, and his sister only giggled in reply.

* * *

As they neared the homestead, Acacia toned down her joy a bit and ventured back into her brother's mind. _Hey, Anakin, you will be... nice, right?_

_Me? I'm always nice._

_No comment_, she replied, her mental voice drier than the sand beneath their feet. _Anyways,_ she continued, cutting off his reply,_ I know you and Owen have never completely... got along. So, just be nice, okay?_

_Owen and I have known each other since years before you were even_ born,_ Squirt._ Acacia rolled her eyes, and Anakin gave a mental chuckle before continuing. _If I haven't killed him yet, I don't think it'll happen at any point in the near future._

_Besides, if I survived Darred without kindly relieving him of his head, I can survive anyone._

Acacia snorted inwardly. _Amen to that._

"Caisha? Acacia!" As the siblings were talking, they'd come in sight of the farm—and Beru as well, who'd briefly glanced out the window as she was cooking dinner. Now she hurried out the door to the meet them, and Acacia dropped the luggage to the sand and hugged her sister-in-law tight.

"It's so good to see you!"

"You as well!" Beru stepped back, glancing behind Acacia at Anakin, Padme, the twins, and a strangely silent 3PO. "I see you brought everyone."

Acacia smiled sheepishly, "Yeah... Sorry I didn't let you know ahead of time, but we were kind of in a hurry. And we had to keep the whole thing quiet."

Her sister-in-law nodded. "I understand. Your business with the Jedi and the Emperor."

"Something like that, yeah."

"Well, come inside," Beru said, though her smile was slightly smaller now. "Owen will be so pleased to see you, and you can tell us all about what's been happening around the Galaxy over dinner."

* * *

When Anakin, Acacia, and Padme finished talking, Owen shook his head. "I'd heard things were bad for the Jedi, but I didn't know Palpatine was chasing you _that_ aggressively." His eyes fell to his little sister. "Are you safe?"

Acacia forced a smile. "Safe as I ever was," she lied. "Besides," she added, nudging her other brother's shoulder, "this one isn't entirely useless."

Anakin scoffed and rolled his eyes, but Owen didn't so much as crack a smile. "So what do you plan to do next?" he asked.

"Well," Acacia said, after swallowing a mouthful of jumba stew, "our only plan right now is to stay on the farm for a couple of days. Kind of get our bearings and figure out what we're gonna do next."

"Well, stay as long as you need to." Owen nodded and gave her a smile, then looked at Anakin and Padme, offering it to them as well. "We're happy to have you."

"To be honest, though," Beru said, after a moment, still staring down at her bowl, "There's... well, there's danger for you here too."

"Why?" Padme asked. "Has there been similar unrest?"

"Some. But what I meant was... there are bounty hunters who intend to get rich off of any Jedi they find."

Anakin scoffed. "If they actually met up with one, they'd be in for a surprise."

"True. But there are still some who are looking. They likely won't come _here_ though. Only a few people know that you and Acacia are related to us—we've kept our relationship to the Jedi quiet and we don't venture off the homestead much anyway."

Still, Acacia and Anakin exchanged glances, and Acacia's happiness shrunk and shriveled up in her chest. Regardless of whether or not the hunters could actually catch them, she was starting to get tired of being chased.

"Most don't even bother with it, though," Beru added quickly. "We get little more than rumors out here, and while a few have sided with the Emperor's reign, most don't think his rule will be any different than the Republic's. They don't think he'll ever come this far out."

"Honestly," Owen admitted, "I'm inclined to agree."

"You're wrong." The words spilled out before Anakin could remember his sister's plea to be nice. But all eyes were on him now, so he figured he might as well finish what he'd intended to say. "The Emperor wants unlimited power, over _everything._ So yeah, it might take him a while to get all the way out here, but you'd better believe he'll come."

Owen set down his fork and stared quietly at his brother. "Are you here to convince us to fight against him?"

"No," Acacia interrupted, sending Anakin an admonishing look. "It's just like I said: we just need a place to regroup for a few days."

"Maybe that's _your_ plan," Owen said carefully, "but Anakin, you've always attracted and enjoyed conflict."

Anakin scoffed and rolled his eyes. "This isn't a schoolboy, scrapyard fight, Owen. It's a war for the fate of the Galaxy."

"I understand that," Owen replied. "I'm only saying that if there's a fight, you always seem to be at the center of it. And often, you drag those around you in as well."

Anakin frowned, but it was hard for even him to argue with that. Owen had known him longer than anyone alive, since Clive began courting Shmi over fifteen years before. As their parents grew closer, the boys became friends, however their differing worldviews often got them into arguments. There were many moments when more privileged children teased Anakin for being a slave, and he tended to end these bouts first with his wit and, if that failed, with his fists; Owen never failed to help defend him from the others, but as they both nursed their wounds, he'd encourage his soon-to-be-brother to avoid the fights all together. "Do what I do," he'd said once, "Debate to a point, but then simply ignore them if you know you won't be able to agree."

"Ignore them?" Anakin had scoffed and shook his head. "But that makes you a coward, Owen."

"Perhaps," Owen had nodded slowly as he put the cap back on the tiny tube of bacta cream, "but I think it makes me a peacekeeper."

Now the brothers stared at each other, and Anakin finally found his reply to Owen's statement. "Maybe it's because I always have something to fight for," he said. "And I'm willing to do anything to keep it."

Owen nodded again, exactly like he had all those years before. "And maybe, that is exactly your problem."

* * *

As the family finished their meal in silence, Padme's commlink beeped. Everyone froze.

"I thought no one knew-"

"Shh," Acacia said to Owen, as Padme drew out her comm and glanced at the ID. "It's from the government offices on Naboo." The senator paused. "I'll take it in the babies' room. Those sand walls are covered by tapestries, so if I keep the hologram focused on me, no one will be able to tell where we are."

"They can't track her signal... can they?" Beru wondered as Padme left the room.

"They shouldn't be able to," Anakin replied, watching the doorway his wife had disappeared through. "I installed a blocker on the ship: we can be contacted, but no one can trace our signals."

"Isn't that a good thing, though?" Owen asked. "That it's from Naboo?"

It took Anakin and Acacia several seconds to reply.

"Truthfully, Owen... we don't know." Acacia looked over at her other brother. "We can't really trust anyone anymore."

"You can trust us," Beru said.

Acacia smiled. "I know. I meant people outside of our family." Of course, that had Anakin and Acacia thinking of Darred, but both decided it would be best to not mention him to Acacia's family.

The clock in the corner seemed to tick louder than normal as they waited for Padme to return. No one spoke; Owen and Beru exchanged several glances, as if they could use telepathy to speak to each other as well. Acacia fidgeted, her eyes darting around the room from person to person, object to object. Anakin attempted to sit still, but after thirty seconds, he was on his feet, pacing back and forth across the room.

He was on his twenty-second round when Padme returned. She noticed his pacing and her lips quirked up in a small smile, which Anakin took as a sign that he could relax and sit down now. If she was smiling at him, there was probably nothing to worry about.

Well, nothing ginormous anyway.

"That was the queen," Padme announced. "Palpatine contacted her yesterday to tell her he's deploying extra 'security troops' on Naboo."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"He claims they're just there to keep the peace, ensure his old homeplanet is safe and all. But she believes they're there to keep Naboo in line, and I agree with her. We never completely submitted to his reign, plus we were some of the first to ask questions when he remained Chancellor for too long.

"They'll be there to keep an eye on us, the Nabooians. Make sure there aren't any uprisings."

"Uprisings?"

Acacia gave Owen a sheepish look. "We've had a couple of... skirmishes since the end of The Clone Wars. Nothing big, I'll tell you about it later."

Before Owen could ask for more information on _that,_ Padme continued, "It's not all bad news, though. She was contacted by Obi-Wan and the Council just before she heard from the Emperor, and now, she and the rest of the Delegation are strongly considering joining the Jedi. That's why she contacted me."

"Really?" Anakin couldn't help grinning. "That's fantastic! So they're finally going to fight back?"

"Well, I don't know that they'll actually _start_ the fighting, but especially after this and all the other attacks on their liberty, they see that we politicians cannot remain isolated. Palpatine has an army on his side; we need one, too."

Beru's lips tipped into a frown. "I thought Jedi were peacekeepers. They're not technically _for_ armies, are they?"

"No," Acacia agreed. "We aren't."

"We _weren't,"_ Anakin corrected. "But anyone who was anywhere near The Clone Wars can tell that that's what we've become. Maybe... Maybe it's what we need to be."

Padme looked at the others, then gave a sad smile and a slight shrug. "I think Anakin's right, everyone. And it's the only way I can see for us to win this fight."

* * *

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	40. Chapter 38

**Hello everyone! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing my story! Ya'll are the best! :D**

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Chapter 38

There had been a time when the old farmhouse was filled with people—family, friends, various droids—but that was years ago, before Acacia was even born, and when Owen was so young he barely remembered it now. But leftover from those days were several guest rooms, which had become bedrooms, then storage rooms when their occupants had died, left, or, in Acacia's case, become Jedi. After his father's death, Owen had packed up his parents' things and pushed them to the unused chambers: far enough that he wouldn't trip over old memories every second of his everyday life, but close enough that he could always revisit them if he wanted to.

Now, at least temporarily, the farmhouse had guests again, so Owen and Anakin worked together to clear a few rooms of their boxes, moving the small packages to one of the rooms at the back of the house. For a few moments after finishing, the brothers stood in the dark room, the suns barely shining through a tiny window, and they stared at their parents' things, lingering like they couldn't decide whether to dive into the past or return to the real world that awaited them.

When Anakin heard a baby's cry, his choice was made for him, so he gave Owen a quick, strained smile and left. But Owen had no children—at least not for another eight months. So now, about to embark on this new journey, yet with pieces of his past returning in the flesh, it seemed to Owen like the only good time to revisit his father and stepmother, if only for closure before moving on.

It was in the third box of mementos that he found them.

* * *

The twins were screaming at remarkable volume and had, from the look of things, resolved together that they would be soothed by nothing but their parents' touch. So Padme took Leia and Anakin took Luke, and the young parents marched through the house, gently bouncing the babies with every step, the constant movement the only thing that kept the twins from starting up again.

By the time the boys made it down to the workshop, Luke was as quiet and calm as if the Galaxy was perfect and the Emperor dead; but Anakin's head still buzzed with thoughts and emotions that darted off each time he tried to catch and control them. They filled his head, nipping at his brain before flitting away, culminating into a bursting ball of fury and frustration. Why was it that he always ended up back on Tatooine? Confused, angry, failed, no idea where to go next. Why was it that whenever he tried to protect the people he loved, he failed them? Sure he'd been lucky this last time—no one had died—but with his mother's grave so close he could almost _feel_ it, he was reminded him that that wasn't always the case. He wasn't strong enough and he _had_ to be. He couldn't risk failing again, couldn't risk losing what he had now the way he'd lost what he had then.

Acacia's words, what she'd said to him before about his growing powers, returned to him then, but Anakin just scoffed. Fat lot of good those powers did if he couldn't understand them, couldn't _use_ them.

Still bouncing Luke, he glared around at the workshop—maybe he'd find _something_ he could fix—and his eyes fell on the remains of R2, where he'd left the astromech amongst the scrap metal. R2-D2, the droid who'd tried to protect his family when Anakin himself had failed... maybe he could fix him at least, if he couldn't do anything else.

He propped Luke against a solid pile of old droid parts then knelt beside his astromech and picked up the circuit plates. Anakin closed his eyes, searched for the connections that had to be there... and pushed.

Nothing.

He scowled, staring at the plates, remembering all the times he'd done powerful things before. The desperation he'd felt, the frustration, near-panic, the need to do _something_ or death would come and it wouldn't come nicely. He drew on the emotions, let them swell up and boil, stewing in his soul, then he relaxed in them, let them wash over him and fill him, and then he pushed.

There was nothing epic. No light swirling out from his fingers, no shattered glass, no sonic booms of power, not this time. But he felt it as the circuits slowly shifted, slid forward, and joined together, making an audible click as they reconnected. He grinned, opened his eyes, and reattatched the plate to R2. He had to have fixed it. He knew he had.

Anakin reached forward and flipped the switch to turn R2 on.

The little droid beeped to life.

* * *

Acacia stood at her room's balcony, staring out over the sand dunes that sparkled in the setting suns. It was... nice being home again, though it wasn't quite what she'd expected. Even here, Sidious' threats followed her, and even now, she wasn't sure what she felt about it all.

On the one hand, she wanted to just _stop._ End the insanity, or at least take a break, just be _done_ with all this fighting and this kill-the-Jedi crap. It was all so stupid, not to mention infuriating. How was it that an entire Galaxy of beings could just_ fall in_ with Sidious' rule and believe his lies? How could everyone in the universe be so flipping _blind?_

Of course that train of thought led to the other hand, the part of her that would embrace some action with open arms—then kill everything in her way directly after. It was so confusing, having the two sides of her mind at war like that. It almost seemed like it should be a win-win situation, but in reality, either way, some part of her lost.

_Or maybe you're just impossible to please._

She scoffed at herself and shook her head. Well, at least her one wish—coming here—hadn't turned out to be entirely useless. She'd been able to sort out her feelings enough that she at least _understood_ them, even if she still had no idea what to _do_ about them. Somehow, coming here, had helped her to see: it had all been so perfect back then. As a Jedi, she'd had it all, basically everything she'd needed, even most of what she wanted. But then the war and the Emperor tore it all to pieces, and now the part of her that missed her Jedi missions missed the action; the part of her that missed the Temple, its serene calmness and strong sense of family, searched desperately for something to replace it.

All of her missed the inner peace of knowing where she belonged and knowing she was doing what she was meant to.

_You're being pathetic,_ her head whispered.

Before she could decide whether or not she agreed with herself, Acacia heard a knock on her door. "Caisha," Owen said once she'd opened it. "Would you come downstairs? I have something I need to show you."

* * *

"It's a message from your mother," Owen said as he handed his sister the hologram projector. "I only watched till she mentioned your name." He shrugged and gave a little smile. "It seemed like something she meant for your eyes only."

"Thank you," Acacia whispered, though her eyes stayed on the projector in her hand. It was like she held a piece of her mother, right there, in the cold metal between her fingers, something... special, important, something precious her mother had created for her and only her.

For _some_ reason, it kinda seemed like a big deal.

"There's one for Anakin, too," Owen said, holding out the second projector. "I only watched till she said his name, as well."

Acacia nodded, taking the other one, then glanced up for a second to smile at her oldest brother. "Thank you, Owen."

His smile turned a little sad, but he gave his sister a quick hug. "It's from Mother to you. There's no reason for you to thank me."

* * *

"Wow," Anakin said, as Acacia handed him his hologram. He stared at it for a moment, then back at her, then back down at the device in his hands. "Wow," he said again. "What do you think they say?"

She shrugged and smirked. "I guess the only way to find out is to watch 'em."

"Obviously," he tried for a joke, but couldn't keep his smile on long enough. "Yours first?"

His sister shook her head. Truthfully, she wanted to keep her message to herself—at least for now.

Anakin nodded. "All right. Mine it is then."

They settled on the floor of the garage, and Anakin pulled Luke into his arms again before leaning over and switching on the projector. Shmi Skywalker-Lars appeared, tanned and beautiful, hair pulled back into the dark braided bun the siblings remembered so well. She wore her simple desert robes, but to Anakin and Acacia, she shined as beautiful as anyone from the Coruscanti rich sector. She smiled right at them as if she knew they were.

"Oh, Ani," she began. "My brave, brilliant little man." Her smile grew, but then it broke, forming an expression that was somehow happiness, hope, and heartbreak all at once. "Though it may seem silly to be making this for you, I know you'll come back someday—maybe soon, maybe not—but I know you'll return just like you said you would. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll have the strength then to tell you all of this to your face. However you need to know it, and since I just made a hologram for your sister, I'm feeling..." She gave a little chuckle. "Well, I'm feeling confident about speaking to my own children. So I suppose I ought to go ahead and tell you everything there is to say while I know I still can.

"First, I just heard from your Council saying Acacia is a Jedi too now. I know you'll find her eventually and I cannot wait for you to meet her. That little girl practically worships you." Shmi gave a quiet laugh, and Anakin raised an eyebrow at his sister, but she had suddenly become quite enamored with a sand pebble on the floor and was therefore unavailable for comment.

"I know I don't have to tell you to watch out for your baby sister because I already know you will, even before she tells you she is. Honestly, Acacia has nothing to do with the reason I'm making this hologram. I'm just rambling here, avoiding what I really need to tell you."

She gave a quiet chuckle that turned into a sigh. "Ani... I love you so much. I am so proud of you and I believe that you can achieve every one of your dreams in and outside of that Jedi Order. You mean more to me than you can imagine, my little Tinker Boy.

"And you meant a lot to your father, too."

Shmi took a deep breath, and if Anakin's lungs hadn't already constricted, he might've done the same. "He was a good man, your father, and he cared very much about the both of us. He was kind and strong, but incredibly stubborn, not unlike someone I happen to know." Shmi chuckled, then looked past them as if she could see Anakin's father somewhere in the distance. "We were very young when we fell in love and still young when we got married, but I don't regret a minute with him, especially since he gave me you.

"But Anakin, for all his good qualities your father, Dikairos Stard, had one flaw. He'd chosen to become a Sith Lord."

* * *

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	41. Chapter 39

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* * *

Chapter 39

Several minutes passed in silence. Acacia stared at her brother as her brother stared at their mother, and their mother continued talking though neither of her children heard her.

_A Sith Lord? My father was a Sith Lord?_

It made sense in a way. If Sidious had known (and he probably had), it could explain his interest in turning Anakin to the Dark Side. It could explain Ace and his affinity with the Dark. It could even explain his—Anakin's—own struggles.

Luke squealed and squirmed in his father's arms, bringing him back to the present, at the same time as Acacia ventured into her brother's head. _Are you okay?_

He didn't actually say no—in fact, he didn't reply at all. But she already knew the question had been a stupid one—clearly her brother had just been rocketed about a billion lightyears from anywhere close to okay.

"Go back," Anakin said finally. "Rewind it a little. I missed part of what she said."

Acacia rolled the playback backwards—and let it go just in time to hear Shmi repeat her "Your daddy is a Dark Lord" line. The girl winced. "Sorry."

But Anakin wasn't even hearing her anymore.

"I know that since you're a Jedi now, this must be a horrible thing for you to hear, but Anakin, your father was a wonderful man. He practiced the Dark Arts, yes, but he was still kind, caring, strong... If he'd gotten the chance to know you, Anakin, he'd love you, and he'd be as proud of you as I am."

Funny. For some reason, the thought of a Sith finding pride in him didn't make Anakin feel so great.

Shmi sighed. "I think you have the right to know the truth, so I'm going to tell you everything. And besides, everything we did all those years ago, all of our choices, they shaped your past and they'll likely shape your future." Shmi took another breath and began.

"Dikairos and I met on the planet Naboo, where I was born and raised. We lived in a swamp town called Sarphia, far on the outskirts of any civilization as it was too close to Gungan country for most. Kai moved there when we were twelve, and somehow, we became friends the day of his arrival, and more than that as the years went on. I didn't know he was a Sith for a long time, but as we grew closer, we shared things. I told Kai that my father liked to study the Force, and he let it slip that he knew some about the old arts. I told him some of the legends my father used to tell me when I was young... and Kai eventually told me about the family of his whom few of us had ever actually seen."

_"They're not... they're not actually my dad or my grandad, you know."_

_I raised my eyebrows, even though, from the way he always talked about them, I'd suspected this for years. "Then what are they?"_

_He turned away from me, scoffing into the air. "More like slave drivers. They bought me when I was young, trained me for years; they're the only people I've ever known, but they're not... they're not_ family_."_

_I stepped closer, hugging him from behind. "Well, I'm your family now."_

_He rested his hands on top of mine and, with my cheek pressed against his back, I could hear his quiet chuckle. "I know."_

_In spite of the moment, my mind latched onto one thing, something about the tone of his voice when he'd spoken. "Kai?"_

_"Yes, love?"_

_"What... what did they train you in?"_

_He didn't step away, but his body grew stiff. "Nothing for you to worry about."_

"I pushed it out of my mind then, knowing enough to know that whatever it was, it was wrong and dangerous, but too in love to see _how_ dangerous. Months later, though, when he asked me to marry him, I told him that I couldn't say yes until he trusted me with the truth. And so he did: he told me that he was a Sith.

_"It's not like I enjoy it, love." His voice cracked as I stumbled away. "It's not like it's something I_ chose._ It's just... it's all I know."_

_"Then leave them!" I begged. "Run away with me; I'd go anywhere in the Galaxy for you!"_

_He tried for a smile, but it shattered in a second. "I appreciate that. But you don't know the Sith, hon. They'd only hunt us down and trust me, they_ would_ find us. Besides." He shook his head and his eyes met mine. "I won't ruin your life that way."_

_I forced myself to step towards him, and my fingertips brushed his arm. "My life is with you, Kai."_

_Through dark lashes, his lovely, blue eyes met mine, the tiny smile inching back onto his face. "You'll marry me then?"_

"I knew it was an awful idea, but I said yes, hoping I could convince him to leave once we'd married. We eloped a week later, told no one but the priest who wed us, and returned to our lives much the same as before, though now I spent half of our time together trying to persuade him to leave with me. Everytime though, he said that his Masters would just track us down and kill us. Easier to continue our double life than risk discovery and death."

Why did that line sound so familiar?

"We spent a stressful but happy year secretly married. Then, I found out I was pregnant.

"Kai and I were overjoyed, and because we wanted a real life for our child, it—_you_—gave him the strength to do what I'd always asked of him: leave the Sith.

"We planned it carefully; if we _were_ to be discovered, it wouldn't be because of a haphazard, careless plan. But on the last day before our departure, Kai overheard his Masters talking about us, worst about you, discussing some prophecy and saying that you would be the one who would bring it to pass.

"Kai rushed home, told me what he'd heard, and said that we had to leave tonight. We hurried to finalize our plans and were just prepared to disappear forever when his Masters came and caught us.

_Two hooded figures stood in our doorway. "Oh Kai," one of them said in a voice so patronizing I could almost hear his smirk, "is it to end like this?"_

_"You can't have him!" Kai growled, stepping in front of me, shielding us with his body. "You can't have my son."_

_"Maybe it'll be a girl." The Sith twisted the playful words I'd used numerous times into something sick and evil._

_But Kai didn't seem to hear him. "I won't let you kill him."_

_"Oh, don't be so dramatic, Dikairos," the one who hadn't said anything spoke in a quiet, teasing tone. "The child wouldn't have to die. He or she could simply become a Sith instead."_

_"I said_ no_. I don't want him anywhere near you or your twisted prophecy. I won't let you make him your pawn and I won't let you force him into the same horrors you forced me into. I'm taking my family and I am leaving."_

_The fone who'd spoken first nodded. "Brave words for someone who, just yesterday, cowered at my feet." He lit his lightsaber and took another step forward. "I will give you one, last chance, Dikairos."_

_My husband lit his own saber and stepped away from me. "My answer remains the same."_

_I blinked and they were at each other's throats. They fought too fast for me to keep track of their movements, but I knew that Kai would lead them away from the door and I knew that the Sith knew it too. He was giving me a chance to escape, if only I kept my mind clear, eyes open, and took it._

_I didn't want to leave him, but I felt the child inside me and I knew whom I had to protect._

"The second they seemed far enough, I flew for the door, hoping the Siths' desire to keep you alive was strong enough that they wouldn't risk hurting me.

"It must have been so, because I made it out without injury, and Kai held them off long enough for us to get away. I ran to Tatooine, the farthest planet I knew, gave birth to you on a starship along the way, and named you Anakin Dikairos like your father wanted. Anakin means 'new start,' you see." She smiled sadly. "And he wanted you to be his."

"I changed my first name, Kylar, and began using Shmi, the name Dikairos and I had chosen for a girl, so that he could find us. At the time, I chose the last name Skywalker, because of a legend, one of my father's bedtime stories that I'd shared with Kai. At the time, I thought the legend was secret, known only to my family and me; but as the years have passed, I've wondered if this legend is part of the reason the Sith believed you the child of the prophecy in the first place.

"When I was a girl, my father would often tell me about the Skywalkers, a family of Force-Sensitives so powerful, that they could walk in the actual sky, skip across the clouds, dance on the rain as it fell on the mortals below.

"According to my father, they were our distant ancestors, though he never explained how it was that they went from walking on the sky to living in a tiny town on the edge of a Nabooian swamp, so I thought it was just a pretty bedtime tale he'd made up. Still, the idea of walking in the sky fascinated me, so once, when Kai let slip his knowledge of the Force, I mentioned it to him. He loved the story as much as I did, and as we were finalizing our plans for leaving, we agreed that if we ever got separated, that was the name we would use to find each other: Skywalker.

"I tell you all of this because you have a right to know the truth about your father, and, perhaps more importantly, so you can understand your role in all of it: the Sith wanted you to be their Chosen One, supposedly the only person who could defeat them. I'm still not sure why they chose you—perhaps because of your father's skill, or some other prophecy or Dark influence, maybe they _did_ know about the skywalker legend and they set Kai and I up. But regardless, they believed you the child of the prophecy, and they wanted you so they could control the one person who could kill them and therefore ensure that they never fell.

"I should've taken you to the Jedi as soon as you were born; I knew that there was no way Kai could've survived, but at the time, I needed to believe that he would return to me. And... I was afraid. You were all I had then my gorgeous, littl,e blue-eyed boy, and I knew that if you were the Chosen One, the road for you would be so, _so_ difficult, full of expectations and fear and pain, and I wanted to spare you that." Tears entered her voice, and she took a slow deep breath, forcing herself calm again. "But what I feared most was the last thing Kai told me about this prophecy. He said it spoke of only two outcomes for its Chosen One: either you joined the Sith or you died fighting them."

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	42. Chapter 40

**I AM SO SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG! I'm not even sure what happened, so I have no excuse, except that I procrastinated, then got busy, then procrastinated some more. :p My deepest, deepest apologies, but I hope you're still around to read and that you enjoy this chapter. :D**

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Chapter 40

The sand swirled around him, biting into his flesh, the sneaky little bits finding ways to squeeze beneath his shirt and into his shoes and beneath every stinking nail follicle. Just like he'd always remembered.

Yet for once, though he felt shockingly aware of every single grain of sand, it wasn't those that bothered Anakin.

He and Acacia had finished the hologram a few hours ago. Shmi had had a little more to say after the great prophecy revelation, but Anakin hadn't heard a word. A thousand thoughts had come alive, roiling in his head, grazing against his brain the same way the sand chafed against his skin, worming, weaseling, sneaking beneath every defense, until all of the sudden they were everywhere, covering him, consuming him, and the only thing he could think was:

_How could Obi-Wan not tell me?_

He had to know. The entire Council had to know. They had the prophecy, didn't they? They'd read it enough to assume that Anakin was the Chosen One, to train him and watch him and remind him every so often of the Sith. They had to have known, all of them. They always knew that, in the end, there would be only two options for him.

And yet they'd never said a word.

It explained some things. Like why they'd never trusted him completely. They must've known that Darkness lurked somewhere in him, that, maybe, he might betray them all and turn to the Dark Side. It explained why they'd been reluctant to train him and, even once they'd let him train, why they were always so insistent about him conforming to their teachings, pushing him to be the perfect Jedi. So he wouldn't turn—he'd die instead.

But what about letting him get so near to Sidious? They hadn't known till recently that Palpatine was the sith, but once they began to suspect, they'd allowed Anakin to get closer anyway. Had they simply assumed he wouldn't fall? That they'd kept him under their rule so long that he couldn't choose the Dark Side, he'd obviously choose death instead?

_Perhaps it was because, as the Chosen One, you were the only one who could get close,_ a voice in his head hissed, and it sounded strangely like Sidious.

But the thought of the Sith Lord only made Anakin angrier. Sidious had trained his father, forced him through torture and murder for years... and then killed him when Dikairos chose to protect his family rather than follow his masters' plan.

It made him want to track down Sidious right then and twist his lightsaber into the Sith Lord's gut himself.

But beyond that anger, Anakin saw the truth: his parents had wanted the best for him, had _fought_ for it.

It was everyone else who was the traitor.

His fists clenched at his sides as the anger simmered and swirled in his chest. He pushed the fury down, but it fought back, and it was so hard to remember why he wasn't allowed to feel such things. The Jedi taught—

But the Jedi were the same ones who'd used him betrayed him, remained willing to throw his life away for their precious prophecy. They'd lied to him from the start, betrayed him from the moment they knew him.

So why should he listen to what they had to teach?

The anger smoldered, but it didn't die.

* * *

"Whoa," Acacia muttered as she jounced her niece up and down in her arms, babysitting while Padme fed Luke. "Just... _whoa_."

There really weren't other words for the hologram she and her brother had watched earlier that afternoon. Even hours later, her brain was still on freak-out overload trying to deal with all that new info. Particularly the bit about her brother dying. Obviously, that was bantha fodder, and if there was an ounce of truth in it, she would crush it, but still... it bothered her. Anakin's death was apparently part of an age-old prophecy, written in the Force for centuries, something that thousands, maybe millions, of people swore had to come true.

People like the Jedi.

Had Obi-Wan known? Always? Had he laughed with them, trained them, practically acted as their father, all the while knowing he was leading Anakin to his death?

Could he—?

No. There was no way. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

Not Obi-Wan.

Acacia's feet took her to Anakin and Padme's bedroom, where he stood at the balcony, staring over the sand. She didn't have to use the Force to sense his emotions: fear, confusion, shock, hurt, fury stronger than anything. She didn't know what to say, so she just walked up to her brother and stood by his side.

"Are... are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded, then paused, because they both knew how obvious his lie was and what an insane question hers had been in the first place. After a silent moment, he admitted, "No."

Acacia nodded, too, staring out over the sand again. "Sorry for asking."

Her brother gave a quiet scoff, and his lips quirked into a slight smile that made Acacia want to smile back. He glanced down at her, and his mouth edged up even more. "You can stop bouncing her now, Caish. She's actually asleep."

Acacia glanced down at her niece to see that Anakin was actually right. "Right." She stopped bouncing. "Sorry."

He smirked a second longer, but then the smile slipped off his face and turned to a scowl. "You don't have anything to be sorry about."

She thought it better to not ask him what he meant by that—especially since she had a feeling she already knew.

Wordlessly, Anakin gestured for his daughter, and Acacia handed the baby to her father. He took Leia in his arms, holding her close to his chest, and as he closed his eyes, his expression of stoic fury softened.

"Anakin," Acacia finally found the words to say, as her brother turned to go back inside "Do you... No." She shook her head. "Obi-Wan _couldn't _have known."

Anakin paused, and the stoic fury returned; Leia squirmed in her sleep. "I'm not so positive about that," he said, and they disappeared back into the house.

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	43. Chapter 41

**Hey all! Thank you so much for favoriting, subscribing, and reviewing my chapters! I love you all so much; you guys are just amazing! *heart***

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**Without further ado...**

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Chapter 41

In the wake of this revelation, normalcy was hardly attempted. Those who knew the full extent of Shmi's news were reeling as much as Anakin himself, and even Owen and Beru, who hadn't been told the whole truth and weren't even Force-Sensitive, could sense the strange shift in the air.

Something new had been revealed, something Dark brought to light. And in its wake nothing could be the same.

* * *

The next morning when Owen went to check the moisture vaporators, he found Anakin already there, kneeling next to one at the end of the row. Cliegg's old toolbox yawned open beside him, and a ring of tools lay in the sand at his feet; he didn't look up as Owen approached. "Acacia told me how these worked once, a few years ago, and this one was making a weird noise." The Jedi stood and dusted off his trousers, even though the breeze would just blow more on them in a few minutes. "There was some sand clogging up one of the valves."

Owen nodded. "Thank you for fixing that."

"No problem," Anakin replied, but Owen caught the off note in his voice, and he noticed his stepbrother wouldn't meet his eyes.

Still, he simply set about his morning chores, knowing Anakin was watching him, unsurprised when he came alongside him to help. This was how Anakin coped when something knocked him flat: he needed something to do, or better yet, something to fix. But, from the circles under Anakin's eyes, Owen thought what he actually needed was some sleep.

"You have something you wanna say."

It wasn't a question. "You can sense that much?" Owen asked as he edged a little farther away.

When Anakin smirked, the smile actually touched his eyes, and it reminded Owen of the confident look he'd get before every podrace, even though Anakin had never won. "Sort of," he said. "And you keep glancing at me with that look on your face."

"What look?"

Anakin's smile slipped, and he turned his eyes back to the vaporators. "The same one you used to give me when we were kids and you had something to say. You..." He shook his head. "You haven't changed, Owen."

Owen couldn't tell from Anakin's stoic expression if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He decided it didn't matter. "Acacia told me yesterday that your mother's hologram revealed something about your father. She said it was a shock."

Anakin gave a little scoff. "Understatement of the century." He put down his tools, wiped off the sweat beading on his face from the rise of the double suns, and said, "You want to know what my mom said?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"This might not be any of my business," Owen spoke slowly, "but you are my brother, so perhaps it is. I don't need to know what Shmi said, but I want to know how you're dealing with it."

Anakin stood, and the stormy steel shifted to a guarded expression. "Why?"

"I didn't completely agree with everything the Jedi were, true; but I can see that there's still a war on, even if most want to imagine it's over. And I know you're a huge part of that war."

"Smack in the middle," Anakin muttered.

"_Exactly_. So you can't afford to be distracted." He chose his next words carefully, "You... you have to be stable, you have to be focused if you're going to play the main role in saving the Galaxy." Owen met Anakin's eyes, staring into them with a strange intensity. "Are you?"

Anakin glared back at him. Then he looked away.

Though he hadn't said a word, Owen nodded as if Anakin's silence had been a speech. "Then, Anakin, I think you need to get that way."

The Jedi whirled back on him. "Why do _you_ care? You stay out here on this sandy, _force-forsaken_ planet—"

"This planet is still a part of the Galaxy. And, from what Acacia's said, I have a feeling your Emperor—"

"He isn't my Emperor."

"—isn't going to stop in the Mid-Rim just because the Republic never went any farther. He will spread all over the Galaxy, bringing tyranny and destruction right with him. That is not what I want for my wife or my child."

Anakin paused and stared at Owen, before he finally said, "Oh."

"Also," Owen went on, turning back to the vaporators, "you _are_ my little brother."

Anakin laughed, even though he knew Owen had been mostly serious. "Right, Owen."

Owen nodded once, and then the men finished their work in silence. But just before they turned to return to the house, Anakin called his brother's name. "Owen?"

He paused and looked back. "Yes?"

Anakin took a slow breath like he was about to give a speech, but in the end, the only thing he said was, "Thanks."

* * *

He came zooming through the desert, kicking up clods of dust as he raced the sandbike for the door, the refuge just ahead. Acacia saw him from her window and rushed down the steps, contacting her brother as she went.

_We got a visitor._

_What kind?_

_Dunno. Looks like a kid._ She reached out with the Force as she stepped out the door. _And he feels really scared. It's practically radiating off him._

Anakin didn't reply at first, but Acacia could sense his grimness. _I'll be right there._

The boy practically fell off his bike, collapsing at her feet as she sprang down the steps, burns and bruises livid on his back, arms, and legs. "Hey," she said, kneeling next to him, trying to appear nonthreatening as she examined his wounds. "What's wrong?"

"The... the Jedi," he panted, meeting her eyes for a second. "The Jedi attacked us."

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	44. Chapter 42

**Hey all! Thank you so much for favoriting, subscribing, and reviewing my chapters! It means so phenomenally much to hear from all of you and know that you're enjoying my story. Love you all!**

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Chapter 42

It was a while before the boy—Danny, Owen said his name was—could explain his accusation. Beru got him settled in a spare room then took out their reserves of bacta cream and tended to his wounds, insisting quietly that she finish before Anakin interrogated him. Anakin didn't particularly like that, but after the talk he'd had with Owen earlier, he wasn't about to challenge his brother's wife. Instead he just stood stoically, brooding by the doorway as Beru patched the boy up, until she quietly but firmly sent Anakin away.

"I could just Force-Heal him and get it overwith," he muttered as he walked off. But considering that Danny thought Jedi had attacked him, it would seem that a Force-Healing would not be particularly welcome at the moment.

Finally though, Beru had finished, and as she brought a bowl of soup to the boy's room, Anakin, Owen, and Acacia followed her. And that was when Danny told his story:

He and his parents had been going about their day like normal, farm chores and tending to the animals, when they came over the horizon: a small army of beings riding in on dewbacks, dark cloaks covering them from head to toe. Danny's father approached, warily attempting to welcome them, but before he could say more than a few words, the leader's lightsaber glowed blue and he'd stabbed Danny's father in the neck. "I watched," Danny whispered. "Then Mum tried to stop them and they killed her too. They took almost everything and then burned the house to the ground. I only survived because one of the dewbacks had bit me in the leg, so they left me in the house when they burned it down. Figured I'd die, I guess. But I snuck out the back way and used the old bike my dad hides... _hid_ for emergencies to escape."

"I'm sorry," Acacia said at the same time as Anakin asked, "They didn't see you?"

"They were counting their spoils," Danny said, and a tinge of disgust crawled into his formerly flat voice. "And the house made a lot of noise when it fell down. Masked the sound of the bike.

"When I left, it didn't look like they'd be leaving soon. But I didn't know if that would change soon, so I came here to warn you."

Owen nodded. "Thank you, Danny."

Acacia gave him her own smile of thanks before she turned to Anakin. "So what do you think?"

"Well, they're not Jedi. Obviously."

"They had the glowing lightswords," Owen said carefully. "Who else uses those?"

"Sith," Anakin answered immediately.

"But aren't Sith lightsabers a different color?"

"So they must've _stolen_ them!"

Silence reigned for several seconds, but Anakin didn't take back his sharp tone. He began to pace a small section of the room, and several of those present instinctively moved out of his way.

"I agree with you, Anakin," Acacia said slowly as if she was trying to talk down a bomber. "But an _army_ of Sith?"

Anakin made a quick turn in the floor. "He was setting up the academies."

"That act just passed. He couldn't have trained the kids that quickly... Right?"

Anakin paused in his pacing to glare at the wall. "Anything is possible."

Acacia turned back to Danny. "The people that attacked you, were they adults or younglings?"

Danny gave her a funny look, but only replied, "Adults."

"So... not from these academies."

Acacia nodded at her oldest brother. "Yeah. But somehow they've got lightsabers."

"Probably off the bodies of dead Jedi." Anakin's fists clenched and his scowl deepened. "Order 66."

Though Anakin, Mace, Koresck, and the others had saved everyone in the Temple from Order 66, many Jedi around the galaxy had not been so fortunate. Dozens of their Jedi brothers and sisters had been cut down by the very soldiers they'd fought alongside for three years, with barely a moment to realize what was happening.

It made Acacia sick to think that Sidious had plucked their weapons—their _lives_—off the dead Jedi's bodies and had now sent his cronies with them to terrorize innocent farmers and scar the name of the Order forever.

A feeling of hatred twisted in Acacia's heart. It was just like what Grievous had done.

Before she killed him of course.

"Wait..." Danny said. "Are you both... _Jedi_?"

He edged away from them: Anakin could sense his desire to run, and Acacia saw his eyes flit to the doors and windows. "We are," Anakin said.

"But those weren't Jedi that attacked you," Acacia reassured him. "Jedi are good. We use our lightsabers and our powers to help people. Not pillage and plunder and burn down innocent farmers' homes."

Danny nodded, but he didn't look convinced.

"You should get some rest, Danny," Beru said gently as she stood and took his empty bowl from him. "We'll watch out for you and figure out what to do next."

His eyes flickered to Anakin and Acacia.

"We're the good guys," Acacia said. "We're not going to hurt you."

Owen nodded. "Like Beru said, you need to rest and let the bacta heal your injuries. Besides... your father was a friend of mine. No one here is going to hurt you."

Danny nodded, but they could all see that he was still wary. But all he said was, "All right." He folded his hands carefully in his lap and looked at each one of them in turn. "Thank you."

As they left Danny's room, Anakin felt a flash of something in the Force. He sprinted down the steps, raced to look out a window, and inwardly cursed. "They're coming," he called back to the others.

There on the horizon, a line of beings rode in on dewbacks, dark cloaks obscuring their bodies, Jedi lightsabers glowing in their hands.

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	45. Chapter 43

**Sorry this chapter took so long! NaNo has begun, procrastination has set in, and I think I shall go insane. **

**On to the chapter!**

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Chapter 43

"Lizards," Acacia grumbled "Did it _have_ to be _giant lizards?"_

Anakin chuckled. "Sorry about that, Caish."

She scoffed. "Well, you oughtta be. It _is _your fault they terrify me," she said, referring to a trick Anakin had played on her when she first became Obi-Wan's padawan. It had involved a very large, very rare, very ugly lizard with a very unusual number of eyes placed upon her chest, in very prime position for her to stare into its very many eyes when she awoke from her very short nap.

It was a very rude awakening.

Anakin gave a quick laugh at the memory, but before he could actually reply to Acacia, his wife burst into the room. "Ani—"

"I know." He nodded towards the window. "We saw it. But Acacia and I'll take care of them."

"Are they Sith?"

For a moment, he didn't reply. And when Anakin finally open his mouth, his face was etched with a frown. "I don't know," he admitted. "But they destroyed Danny's home and killed his entire family." Anakin's eyes met his wife's, and she saw something fierce in them. "I won't let that happen here."

"Neither will I."

Everyone whirled to see Owen coming in from the garage, hoisting an ancient blaster rifle. "It was Dad's," Owen explained. "He taught me how to use it."

Anakin started to protest; if they were carrying lightsabers—_Jedi_ lightsabers—these likely weren't the sort of opponents that any old amateur shot could just pick off from afar. But then he saw the look in his brother's eyes, and he knew that to argue this point would only waste time.

Owen had a family to protect too.

So Anakin simply nodded, gave his wife a quick kiss, and commanded R2 and 3PO to keep everyone safe (to which the protocol droid replied with a quiet, "oh dear"). Then he strode over to the door, peeking out the window as the enemy advanced, and glanced back at his siblings to ensure they were ready. Owen and Acacia both gripped their weapons and nodded.

Anakin gave the smallest of smirles, and for a second, Acacia saw him as he'd been at the beginning of the Clone Wars, before life got crazy and the entire galaxy went nuts. She smiled back, and then both their eyes fixed on the enemy.

Anakin smirked. "Charge."

* * *

The Jedi imposters had slowed their advance, pausing about thirty yards away from the house, and Anakin, Owen, and Acacia hurried out to meet them. The true soldiers among the siblings surveyed the opposition as they marched across the shifting sand: they were only three against more than thirty, and they had to keep the fight within this thumbnail of a battlefield if the desert homestead and their entire family inside it were not to become innocent casualties in the upcoming battle.

_We've got our work cut out for us,_ Acacia thought to her brother.

_Well,_ he replied, flipping his lightsaber in his hands, _I always did work best under pressure._

And then they charged.

Owen stopped a little ways off, taking refuge behind the aboveground dome of the storage building, preparing to snipe off any enemies that—literally—hit a little too close to home. But Anakin and Acacia charged the full distance, and as Acacia allowed the Force to guide her, time seemed to slow down a notch. She noticed how the front line seemed to hesitate—_Weren't expecting real Jedi to fight back were you?_—but then they slid off of their mounts, tossed off their hoods to reveal grotesque armor-masks underneath, and the battle began. The front line of fighters surged around the Jedi, and their dewbacks pushed their way to the front of the fray, snapping at the siblings whenever they came even a tad too close to the reptiles' mouths.

_Aren't dewbacks,_ Anakin wondered absently, as he jumped over a scaly mouth, _supposed to be_—sliced off a reptilian head—_nicer than this?_

_This is why_—Acacia spun away to slice through two of the reptiles at once—_I hate lizards!_

She scowled in disgust, and her lightsaber drilled backwards, slicing through another's snout, leaving it to roar in agony until she landed a solid back-kick and another lightsaber swipe.

Dead.

_Duck,_ the Force warned, and before she even knew what she was doing, she'd flattened herself to the ground—just as two of the enemy swiped their lightsabers in the empty space where her head had been only seconds earlier. She flipped and switched her weight, sweeping a kick at one of the opponent's legs, more to distract him than anything else and to give her time to get up and re-get her bearings.

But to her surprise, he didn't jump it; her leg connected solidly with his ankles, he toppled to the ground, and then his own dewback stomped on his head.

_Weird,_ Acacia noted with a small portion of her brain, as she spun away from the nasty scene to duel two of the imposters at once. _It's like_—Cross-saber strike—_they're not_—spin, punch with the free hand—_even_—kick, double, _dropkick_!—_Force-sensitive._

_I don't... think... they are,_ Anakin replied, and Acacia's eyes shot over to see that he was dueling at least three at once: lightsaber swinging, Force-Punching and Pushing, feet flying into people so often, he barely seemed to touch the ground.

_Move!_ The Force shouted, and she danced out of the way just as a burning blue swept for her stomach.

_Don't... get distracted,_ she reminded herself as she clashed against her newest opponents. _Focus._

She shot out a back-kick at one of the fighters sneaking up behind her, then ducked a blaster bolt sent by Owen himself; fixed on her frontal enemy, she blocked his saber attack, then slammed the heel of her hand into his face. He stumbled backwards, and the armor-mask he'd been wearing under his hood cracked from the force of her punch and slid off.

Below the mask, despite the red stubble, it was the face of a clone trooper.

Acacia lurched away. "_What_?"

She felt the heat of the sabers before they were anywhere near her, but long after she'd have time to dodge or block them both. She sliced off the hand of one fighter—pure instinct—but the Force suddenly screamed that the second one was going to stab her in the back.

Only it didn't.

The other saber dropped from dead fingers, seconds before its owner fell to the ground. Her brother stood behind him. "Anakin, they're—"

"I know," he said as they spun to face their enemies, the siblings dueling back-to-back for their very lives. _But they're trying to kill us and everyone we care about._ She ducked; he whirled and kicked one of the clones solidly in the face. _We have to kill every one and deal with the rest later._

Acacia nodded her agreement as she cleaved another clone in two. With nearly half the army gone, they advanced on the remaining; she _would_ end them before they reached that homestead.

A single tear dropped into the desert sand and immediately soaked away.

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	46. Chapter 44

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Chapter 44

Owen watched as his siblings battled. He hated to admit it, but a part of him almost wished that Acacia and Anakin would just defeat the entire army, so he wouldn't have to join in the fight at all. But as quickly as the want slid into his head, he squelched it. There was a reason he'd grabbed his father's rifle and charged out here, and it went beyond the lives of his wife and his child.

He fought for his siblings too.

They couldn't beat these murderers on their own—not all of them—whether or not they were willing to admit it. And Owen had already lost both of his parents—the mother _twice. _He wasn't about to lose anyone else.

His fingers tightened on the barrel of the old rifle. No. Not if he could help it.

He fired off his first bolt, first time shooting at a truly sentient being. The gun under him bucked like an untrained eopie, and he frowned as the shot went wide. The second bolt was better... but it came closer to hitting Acacia than her opponents.

Owen cursed as he lowered his rifle. He'd be less than the useless he already was if he wasted bolts, or worse, shot one of his siblings by accident. Clearly, his weapons abilities didn't extend that far—literally. So sliding along the ground, he left the relative safety of the storage building, and set out onto the sand of the open battlefield. He inched closer to the combat, to the lightsabers clashing, the grunts of exertion, the short cries of agony, and the howls of the lizard beasts—to the murderers surrounding his siblings, the line of heads so thick it reminded him of the brawls in Mos Eisley cantinas. With such a wide target, even he couldn't miss.

Owen shot off four rounds, hitting two of the attackers twice each in the back... and drawing the attention of their companions. The rear line whipped their heads towards him, focused on his face, swung onto their dewbacks, and charged.

For a few seconds, the reptilian feet thundered in the sand, and he heard them pound like the sound of his heartbeat. Then he picked up his rifle and fired. One fighter went down, two, three, a dewback, another.

Then they were on him.

The lizards stomped around him, the enemy soldiers aimed their sabers, but he kept pointing and shooting, pointing and shooting, if he stopped he'd die, and not only him, but everyone in that house and Acacia and Anakin—

_Crunch!_ Pain lanced through his body, so sharp and strong he almost dropped his gun. _My leg_, he registered vaguely and stared down at the appendage. A dewback was actually _chewing_ on his leg. _Crunch!_ The teeth went down again, and Owen felt his bones snap once more. Screaming in his head, he wrenched his body upwards, shot the dewback through the eye, and then fell back onto the sand.

He was surrounded by the enemy, by their weapons, by their beasts. A violent pain smashed through his skull, and as his vision went black, Owen realized, he'd lost.

* * *

She watched from the window as her husband went down, screaming his name as the lizard beasts surrounded him. "_Owen_!" Her voice broke in time with her heart.

Somewhere behind her, she heard her own name, but that she ignored. She had to get to Owen, had to help him. The door loomed closer, her hand reached for the knob—

Something wrenched her away. "What are you _doing_?" she screeched at her sister-in-law, though most of her words were choked by her tears.

"You can't go out there, Beru," Padme told her. "_Listen_ to me!" She grabbed her by the shoulders, as Beru's eyes trailed away. "You don't have a weapon—"

"They're _killing_ him."

Padme's eyes shot past her sister-in-law to look out the window, but the line of enemies was so thick, she couldn't see anyone past them. Not Owen, not Acacia.

Not Anakin.

She shoved down the rising panic and turned back to Beru. "Ani and Acacia will watch out for him," she promised, and then tugged the other woman away before she argued that Padme couldn't possibly know that for sure.

A slight tingle on her spine. Padme took a glance over her shoulder, her eyes widened, and she realized just how much trouble they were actually in. With Anakin and Acacia surrounded and Owen overwhelmed by sheer numbers, a group of three fighters were advancing on the homestead, their lightsabers' deadly glow shining like a warning beacon.

A squeal from the babies' room. Padme's heart rate picked up, but then she realized it wasn't a scared squeal, but a playful one. As if 3PO or R2 had done something that amused them, and Leia had let out her happiness in a laugh. So little, so perfect, so _oblivious_ to the men marching _right now_ to end her.

Staring in her children's direction, Padme set her lips. _I'm so sorry, Ani._

"Beru," she began, trying to keep her voice calm, "run back and stay with the twins, will you?

Beru's head whipped back, and her eyes narrowed into a glare. "I'm not a _child_, Padme. I know you just want me out of here."

"Yes," Padme agreed, shoving her sister-in-law down the hall as their enemies advanced ever closer. "So _go_."

A furious buzzing. Beru's eyes widened as she stared at the door, watched the glaring green carve a hole through their only defense. Padme didn't have to be a Jedi to sense her anger vanish. "But I can't just _leave_ you."

"Well, you can't fight with me either. Now, go!" Padme punctuated her words with a push, just as their enemies punctuated them with a crumbling door. She looked once over her shoulder to make sure Beru truly was leaving as she'd asked, then pulled out her lightsaber and turned to meet her opponents

_If I should die today, fine,_ she thought, stepping forwards. _But you won't bring my children too._

* * *

It wasn't surprising that Anakin felt a searing pain in his chest when he was surrounded by strangely vicious dewbacks and vastly outnumbered by shockingly skilled clones who fought with lightsabers. What _was_ surprising was that the pain didn't seem to come from anywhere. He hadn't been stabbed or shot by a stray bolt or even bitten straight through. The sting seemed to come from nowhere at all, and he staggered back, nearly handing one of the clones the chance to give him an actual _reason_ for his pain. Acacia kicked the fighter off balance while his back was turned and as she whirled away, Anakin instinctively sliced the enemy through; but though the original pain in his chest had subsided, he now realized the reason for it, and it almost made him wish for the pain again if only it would erase this terrible surety.

Padme was in danger.

_Acacia!_ he shouted through their telepathy, hoping his call wouldn't throw her off much. _Can you cover me?_

_What do you—S_he gasped as she slid under a dewback_, _carving a whole in its underside as she went—_think I've been doing __this whole time?_

Anakin decided not to reply to that. Kicking another snapping lizard in the snout, ducking another saber, her brother replied,_ I want to make for the homestead. Make sure they're safe back there._

_Anakin_, his sister as the dewback she'd just carved keeled over, _I can't even_ see_ the homestead._

The Jedi glanced in the direction he knew it should be, and his heart throbbed again. Beyond the thick line of assassins them, he could _just_ make out the sand hut... and the three clones marching towards it.

_No,_ he thought. They would not take his family from him.

He fought. He _did._ But it seemed like every time he swiped through one's defenses, another would rise to take its place. And with so many surrounding him and his sister, all vying to take their heads (or just stab them through, whichever worked), he and Acacia stayed constantly on the defensive. He'd duck, dance away, _just_ avoid bumping into his sister, try to advance... but was always shoved back. Herded to the center of the deadly circle, in easy reach of a clone's lightsaber or a dewback's teeth or the blade-like claws that would slash him to shreds if he was distracted for only a moment. Here and there, he managed to make a move that killed a clone or knocked a dewback out of play. But mostly, Anakin just tried not to die.

And as he fought, as he _failed,_ those clones drew ever closer... closer to Padme, closer to the twins, closer to—

_A charred hole, lightsaber-burned in the middle of her stomach. Tiny bodies, still, breathless, mouths still open in silent screams as they begged for their father to save them._

_No._

The world around him seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time; his vision tinged, a sharp red focal point with saffron fires licking around the edges. _Focus,_ the Force hissed, and somehow he knew those fires were not of the Light.

But he didn't care.

His body became a tornado, his lightsaber the accompanying lightning as he moved, fought, spun, danced, _stabbed_ at everything that came near him. The clones in his path, the dewbacks with them, fall, fall, _fall,_ he would kill them _all,_ and he would reach Padme and he would save his children and nothing but _nothing_ could stop him.

Somewhere in his chest, he felt a throbbing ache, but he ignored it. Somewhere in his head, he thought heard cackling. But he pushed the sound away.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	47. Chapter 45: Part 1

**Hey all! I know it's a little late, but hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I'm thankful everyday that you've all stuck with me and for all the lovely reviews, follows, and favorites you leave! *heart***

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Chapter 45: Part 1

Acacia could sense her brother falling, sinking into the Dark Side as its power ate at his Light and then radiated outwards, annihilating everything in his presence. She opened her mouth to call to him, reached out a hand to shake him out of it, remind him that this _couldn't_ be the right way.

But they were _losing._ In spite of everything, she and Anakin were losing. They could dodge and dance and slash and stab as much as they wanted, but eventually, the enemy's sheer numbers would overwhelm them, and then they'd both fall anyway—in _death._

And then what? Then who kept the remaining clones from killing the only family she had left? From ending Owen, a quiet moisture farmer who only wanted peace? From killing Padme, who, talented as she was, had only just begun her training? From murdering Beru, her quiet, caring sister-in-law, or Luke and Leia, her niece and nephew, just _babies._

If she and Anakin died, who protected them?

_No one._ She and her brother, they were the last line of defense. If they fell, so did everyone else.

As she whirled to avoid a lightsaber from one direction and a dewback from another, Acacia ducked into a break between the bodies, and she saw Owen, prone on the sand, his leg a broken mess, his rifle lying just out of reach of his grasping fingers. Several clones surrounded him—they were going to _kill_ him—and then the gap closed and her oldest brother disappeared from view.

For a split second, Acacia gasped and her mouth dropped open as the pain and the panic overtook her. She didn't want Anakin to use the Dark Side; that was never the right answer. But she also didn't want anyone she cared about to die.

So perhaps this time, there _was_ no right answer.

She leapt back up, hitting the clones and the dewbacks ten times harder, exhausted but surrounding herself with as much of the Light as she could as if to make up for her brother's use of the Dark. They would fight and they would _win._

No matter the cost.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry this update's short! This chapter is taking me way longer than I thought it would, and I didn't want to leave you guys with nothing after such a long wait, so I thought I'd go ahead and post the part I have ready. Not to worry, though, I am working on part two and it will be up ASAP! **

**As always, thanks for reading and please review!**


	48. Chapter 45: Part 2

**Hey all! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! It means the world to me! :D**

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Chapter 45: Part 2

Strangely, as Padme faced the soldiers, she thought of Typho and how he'd given literally everything to protect her. How he'd never hesitated; any dangerous situation or unlikely cause she'd thrown herself into, he'd thrown himself right after, watching her back _and_ her front, chiding her for her recklessness but never holding her back, always there, doing everything in his power to keep her safe. He'd been the head of her security for more than half her life, but more than that, he'd been one of her closest friends.

And then Sabe, another of their closest friends, had murdered him.

Padme couldn't repay Sabe for her betrayal and she couldn't bring Typho back from the dead. But she _could_ fight for her children and Beru and even that innocent, injured boy in the back room, the way Typho had always fought for her.

It was the best she could do to honor his sacrifice.

Padme breathed carefully through her nose, out through her mouth, shut off every distraction, and _focused._ Time crawled as the Force showed her each second in snapshot motion, mapping out the best course of action before she'd even finished her breath.

And then she charged.

Her strategy was simple: by bringing the fight to them instead of waiting for them to come to her, she fought the enemy on her own terms, battling one at a time rather than all three at once. She was a vicious, defensive blur, using the Force to keep them always in sight, dodging around them, dancing between them, fighting with everything in her to keep the buzzing heat of their lightsabers at bay.

A whisper of danger tingled on her left side, and she launched herself out of its path—just as the lightsaber swept for her leg. She could feel the searing heat through her pants—a shock of pain—but the burn wasn't serious. So far, so good.

As she landed, her eyes found a wad of molten sand glimmering on the packed dirt floor. The thoughts flashed through her head as swiftly as lightsabers in combat, and she realized, _Sand house plus superheated sword equals..._

_Instant weapon._

Her eyes darted to the low ceiling, and the ideas flipped through her brain as she ducked one lightsaber, parried a second, and kicked the third out of its owner's hand. There were certain moves she wasn't skilled enough to pull off, but there had to be some way she could use her surroundings to—

And there the idea was, fully formed and perfectly dangerous.

Padme knew exactly what she was going to do.

She took several steps back, then launched herself upwards even as they advanced, sailing over their heads and slicing the ceiling with her lightsaber, melting the sand to liquid glass on contact. She could feel the enemies' sabers chasing her as she tucked and soared straight over them, the heat of their weapons singeing her body as fabric and skin broke the sabers' containment fields. But she made it over, relatively unscathed, and jerked her head up to see the weapon she'd created: a scar of molten sand burned into the ceiling, roiling over the enemies' heads to be rained down like fire and brimstone.

She used the Force to make it fall.

Padme cringed, wishing she could cover her ears as the screams began, hoping that the twins couldn't hear or at least wouldn't understand the sound and that it wouldn't haunt them in their nightmares. She stood by, watching grimly as the molten rain melted through the enemies' cloaks and armor, as the shards of liquid glass seared straight through to reveal... _clone faces_ underneath the masks?

She made the mistake of taking an involuntary step forward.

A roaring mass charged through the lava storm and slammed into her. Pain shot through her body as the magma clinging to his remaining clothing seared through her own shirt, and then still more pain as they landed and she crashed into the packed sand of the homestead floor. A torrent of agony plowed through her senses, but Padme struggled to keep her eyes open as the clone stood, retrieved his lightsaber, and then raised it to—

_Clang!_

Just as Padme scrabbled for her own weapon in a sorry attempt to defend herself, something large and metallic slammed into the back of the clone's head. He paused for a second, almost like he might shake it off and kill her regardless, but then his fingers loosened, his lightsaber fell, and his body crumpled to the ground.

Padme stared at the being behind him. "_Beru_?"

The desert woman gave a grim smirk. "I may seem like the quiet type, but I don't like being told what to do."

"How did you—?"

"Frying pan," Beru replied, hefting the heavy object. "It's surprisingly useful for clouting vicious brutes upside the head."

Padme stared, blinked, and then there was nothing for her to do but shake her head and burst out laughing. After a second, Beru smirked and joined in her relief.

It was then that they smelled the smoke.

* * *

She smelled the smoke before she knew where it came from, and she knew where it came from before she saw the fire. Her saber arm dragged, her muscles throbbed with every heartbeat, and exhaustion threatened to kill her before one of the clones could even come close, but Acacia gathered her strength and leapt upwards anyway, hoping—just this once—that her senses might be wrong.

The horde of clones and dewbacks around them had thinned, thanks mostly to Anakin's Dark usage, and Acacia had just enough space to sail over the enemies' heads and just enough time to look in the direction of the homestead.

It was on fire.

Her heart clenched, and she finally understood what Anakin was sensing, that gut-wrenching _panic_ that had pushed him to the Dark, that burning certainty as he knew—just _knew_—that Death was sprinting towards his family.

But before Acacia could even freak out, the strangest sound came from behind her: her best friend Kadalia's voice.

_No way,_ Acacia thought, even as she whirled around and saw the evidence with her own eyes.

"Hey, Caish," Kadalia called again, smirking in a confident fashion that was fully backed by the two lightsabers in her hands and the army of Defenders behind her. "Happy early birthday. By the way, need some help?"

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**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading and please review!**


	49. Chapter 46

**Heyo peoples! Hope you had a Merry Christmas and you have a happy New Year! Love you guys! **

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Chapter 46

After that, everything seemed to happen in a rush. The Defenders swooped in, dressed in clone armor, and annihilated the remaining clones and dewbacks. Acacia paused to nod a thank you, took a nanosecond to breathe, but one look towards the homestead told her they were nowhere near finished. A second army of clones had crept up in the chaos, white-hot torches blazing in their hands...

_No._

They launched the torches into the homestead, the fires joining the one that had already set the hut aflame.

She sensed fear and fury flare in Anakin's chest, but he didn't waste a second. Whirling on Kadalia, he asked, "Can you take care of that army?"

"Absolutely."

He nodded once, then jerked his head towards his sister. "Caish?"

She swiped the sweat from her forehead, shoved away her weariness, and gripped the hilt of her lightsaber. "I'm right behind you."

They charged across the sand, one cohesive body, until the Defenders broke off to take care of the enemy army, leaving only Acacia and Anakin to finish the downhill sprint for the homestead. Leaving only Acacia and Anakin to find their brother's body.

Owen lay in the sand, surrounded by the few clones and dewbacks he'd managed to kill, eyes closed, fingers still grasping for his father's rifle, leg still leaking blood into the desert.

Acacia stumbled, stopped, then fell to her knees.

_No. Oh, Force, no._

_Acacia. Acacia!_ She heard her other brother shouting in her brain and she wanted to push him away—make him leave her alone, leave her to her grief, couldn't he see that Owen was _dead_?—but Anakin insisted. _Caish, we have to go. Think of Padme, the twins, Beru. Caish!_ His voice took on a fierce urgency as he grabbed her shoulder and shook it to get her attention. When she finally lifted her head, he stared into her broken, violet eyes, and she stared into his blazing, blue ones. _We can still help_ them_._

With agony in every movement, she forced herself to her feet, feeling as if the whole of Tatooine was pressing down on her. Her fingers trailed along Owen's arm as she _made_ herself leave him, her eyes scanning his face, memorizing—

_Thrum._ A pulse in the Force.

_No way._

_Thrum._ There it was again.

_Anakin!_ she screamed loud enough to bust a blood vessel in both brains, but she didn't care. _He's alive!_

Almost at the homestead, Anakin paused mid-step. _He's actually alive!_ Acacia insisted, giddy with the possibilities. They could help, they could _save_ him. It didn't have to end this way.

She could sense Anakin's second of indecision as the need to rescue his own family devoured his heart and the thought of leaving Owen to bleed out burned his soul. She started to say something, some short, wise statement to convince him they had time for both, but then he was sprinting back towards her, grabbing Owen around the waist, and hoisting him into his arms. Barely breaking stride, Anakin shot back for the homestead, his sister racing right beside him.

They burst in the door, and Beru nearly screamed when she saw Owen so pale and broken. "He's alive," Anakin gruffly reassured, before setting his brother down and spinning to see wife; Padme leaned against an unburned wall, fingers gripping at the crumbling sand for support. "Padme!" He coughed; the smoke was already reaching here. "Where are the twins?"

"They're in their room," she panted. "I was fighting... I didn't—" She cut herself off. "You have to get to them!"

"But—!"

"The front door's right there, Ani." She forced her voice to sound calm. "Get the children; Beru and I will take care of Owen." The senator fixed her eyes on her husband's. "I'll meet you outside."

Anakin nodded and, for once, did as he was told.

* * *

His chest hurt. As they sprinted through the homestead's hallways, hacking up their lungs, the air burning every breath, the smoke coating their vision, Anakin shoved away his exhaustion, ignored the aches in his muscles, and forced himself to focus on his children's ForceMarks; they were his guide through the fire. He could ignore every other distraction, every other pain, fix his mind utterly on the task of finding Luke and Leia... except for the constant throbbing just above his heart.

_The Dark burn,_ he thought, then quickly covered up the words before Acacia could see them.

He'd gone too far with the clones, he knew it. But his children were about to be _melted_ by molten glass. He'd get to them first and figure out what to do about the Dark swirling inside him later.

But, as though they were being punished for his sin, the universe conspired against them. Blazing metal pieces from the homestead's inner structures dove into their path, flames lashed at their bodies, sampling their skin, and he and Acacia would only just dance out of the way to avoid being scalded. Each obstacle increased Anakin's fear by ten, and each increase in fear brought an increase in fury. He just wanted to keep his family _safe,_ for Force's sake. Why was that too much to ask?

They were almost through, almost there, lunging for the twins' open doorway.

The biggest break yet cracked and plunged towards his sister's head.

The Force flared inside him.

_Not today._

He harnessed the Force, remembering the moment when he'd held the actual power of an energy cell in his hands. He couldn't do something so big right now, not if he planned to be conscious at any point in the next few hours, but he _could_ take care of this single piece of metal hurtling towards him and his sister. He snagged it in the air and tossed it to the side, not waiting to see where it landed before he and Acacia burst into the children's bedroom.

Outside, the roar of the fires had nearly drowned out his children's cries; now, he could hear them loud and clear, but he couldn't spot them through the smoke and the flames. He saw C-3PO trying to protect R2, who was using his utility arm to drag someone to their feet. That boy they'd rescued, Danny. He held two bundles, curled into his chest, as he staggered to—

_The twins._

In a second, Anakin was there, taking his children from the exhausted boy's arms. They nestled into his chest. Safe.

For the moment.

A whisper of movement past him. Acacia moving to support the boy on her back. She turned her violet eyes to her brother's face. _What now?_

He didn't know.

_Stay close to me._

He heard her tell the droids to stay right on her tail, but he pushed that out of his mind and tried to figure out how they were all to survive. By now, there was nothing to see but smoke and fire; flames engulfed the room's entrance and then slithered towards them. He could sense the structure breaking, the frames buckling as the fire melted through the upholds, and the Force shouting of the danger, whispering of an escape. He didn't know which side was which anymore, and right now, he didn't have time to figure that out. His son and daughter kept coughing, his sister and Danny kept wheezing, the fire kept stretching its fingers—nearly _touching_ them—and he hadn't come this far to let anyone die on his watch!

He tucked his children into his body, covered their tiny faces with his cloak, and fought through the flames, using the Force to guide them all to a safety zone. He just _followed_ it, running where it told him to run, ducking where it told him to duck, warning Acacia to use it to divert the raining debris whenever the Force said a collision course was unavoidable. He felt acutely aware of the four children counting on him, _trusting_ him, and even did his best to keep track of his droids. The fires leapt and snatched, licking at his clothes; the smoke swooped and choked, shoving him downwards to join the flames, to burn to death, to become one with the blazing beast that ate the homestead alive. But he ignored the fires, he ignored the smoke, he followed the whispers and shouts of the Force—until suddenly, they were through, blinking in the light of the double suns, as they watched the homestead crumble down.

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	50. Chapter 47: Part 1

**Heyo peoples, sorry this chapter took so long! Part 2 is coming soon. :)**

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Chapter 47: Part 1

The world passed her by in a foggy whirlwind. She saw a cargo ship fly over her family's homestead and smother the flames in water, heard the fizzing hiss as the torrent crashed into the fire and the fire protested its death; she heard the babies cry as the steam shot up and splashes of the chilly spray nicked their faces; she sensed Anakin's protectiveness flare as he shielded his children from the steam and the sudden cold. Mostly, Acacia felt the weight of the boy on her back as his legs finally gave out (or maybe they'd given out ages ago and she just hadn't noticed?), and she had to support every ounce of his weight.

Her legs began to tremble, and her head swirled on her neck, and her eyelids kept sliding... sliding... But she hauled them back open, locked her knees, and forced herself to stay strong.

At some point, Danny was taken off her back, and then they were all in one of the storage buildings around the homestead. Strangely, Acacia recognized it. They'd kept spares of _everything_ in here, and since it was always so full, she'd deemed it a prime place to play hide-and-seek and other games with—

_Kadalia._

Her eyes darted around the crowded room, searching to make sure her best friend _had_ actually returned and wasn't just some exhaustion-induced hallucination.

_Not her... not her... not her..._

She caught Kadalia's eye as the other girl came down the stairs and entered the storage room from aboveground. Relief crashed into Acacia, even stronger than she'd thought it would. But as Acacia took a shaky step towards her friend, someone's hand fell on her shoulder, and Acacia spun around to see Anakin behind her.

For the first time, she noticed how red her brother's eyes were, how the undersides were darker than the Coruscanti Lower Levels, how the hair on his chin had at some point evolved from five o'clock shadow to stubbly beard. He looked even more exhausted than she felt, and knowing how he always tried to hide his physical pain, Acacia had to think he was even worse off than he looked.

She was about to ask him if he'd slept since they'd arrived on Tatooine, but then Anakin opened his mouth and said a single sentence that both eradicated her own exhaustion and erased all notice of his. "Caish," he said, "it's Owen."

* * *

With the help of a few of the Defenders kids, Padme and Beru had lugged Owen into the storage building and done what they could to help him from there. They'd piled unused tarps and old garments on a shelf, forming a makeshift bed; they'd cleaned his wounds of blood and sand and done their best to set the leg bones, but that unfortunately was where their skills ended. Beru had sat by Owen's side as his breathing grew weaker, and then the tears came as she waited for the momenthe died.

That was when one of the kids found Lue-Ann, an outpost Corps kid, original Defender, and Jedi healer-in-training.

"Thank you," Acacia whispered hoarsely, as the kid who'd found Lue-Ann finished her story.

Lue-Ann blushed and ducked her head. "You don't have to thank me," she murmured. "This is what I do. I couldn't heal him completely, and he may have leg problems later in life, but he should live."

Acacia looked back at her oldest brother, sleeping semi-peacefully, and Beru, smiling, crying, and holding his hand. Acacia turned back to Lue-Ann and gave her a quick hug. "All the same, thank you."

The other girl gave her a shy smile, then slipped past her into the next room.

A whisper of familiarity swished through Acacia, then suddenly Kadalia was there, and she was embracing her best friend for the first time in months. "Hey." Acacia smiled, swiping at the tears that formed in her eyes. "It's..." She trailed off, gave a little embarrassed laugh. "Sorry. It's good to see you."

Kadalia smirked and tapped Acacia's shoulder with her fist. "Good to see you, too. I'd ask how you are, but I'm sensitive to your ForceMark _and_ I was just in the same battle you were, so I'll spare you having to think up the words."

Acacia chuckled; the last of her tears spilled over, and she used the back of her fist to dash them away. "Thanks. Same to you."

Kadalia smirked again, but her smile faded as she stared over Acacia's head and her eyes scanned the people in the infirmary. Though nearly everyone had some injury or another, miraculously, no one had died. The Defenders had completely overwhelmed the clones, their numbers too great for the Imperial soldiers to give anything more than a few nicks and grazes, and those small injuries were quickly taken care of. Owen _would_ have died if not for Lue-Ann, but her abilities had saved him just in time; Padme had been slathered in bacta and was resting next to the twins, who were being treated by the MedDroid from the Defenders' ship. Near them lay Danny, the blue-haired boy with dark blue eyes who'd used his own body to protect the twins even when he was suffering from his own bruises, burns, and broken bones.

Acacia's exhaustion hit her in another wave, and she practically collapsed onto a nearby supply box to keep from simply crumpling to the coarse sand floor. She knew she had no serious injuries, but as her exhaustion pulsed a throbbing beat in the back of her brain, the burns on her arms and legs also gained a sudden interest in making their presence known.

"Here." Something slid into her hand; Acacia blinked and realized Kadalia had handed her a small tube of bacta ointment. "There's not much in there, but you can rub on what's left. To make sure those don't get infected." Kady nodded at the seared skin showing through Acacia's singed sleeves and leggings.

"Thanks," Acacia muttered, shaking her head to try and wake up. as she slowly, methodically rubbed in dabs of the ointment, concentrating to keep her eyes open and her mind focused.

She heard Kadalia mutter something and squinted up at her best friend. "Sorry. Did you say something?"

"Not really, I just..." Kadalia shook her head, and Acacia followed her gaze to find Danny at the end of it. "I can't believe he's _alive_."

Acacia capped the bacta container and frowned. "What do you mean you—" And then she remembered. Kadalia's family farm had always been the one closest to the Lars homestead _except_ for the farm of Kadalia's aunt and uncle.

A snapshot memory from her childhood: a woman with eyes like disks of the Tatooine sky on a perfect day, and a man with a haystack of dark blue hair, laughing and swinging a little boy on his back. Danny and his parents, Kadalia's cousin, aunt, and uncle, Acacia's only other friends from her childhood on Tatooine.

_Dang._

She stared at Danny with new eyes, trying to reconcile the blurry image of a six-year-old Danuel Hatnim with the teenage version before her. "Force," Acacia muttered, as Kadalia walked over and almost reverently settled onto his makeshift bed. "And I didn't even _remember_ him."

Kadalia gave a little shrug, but something in her shoulders remained tense. "It _has_ been years. And really, he might not remember us either." She shrugged again, still staring down at her cousin. "It's... it's weird. I remember, when we were kids, I hated having him around. Ruining our fun with his _boyness_ while we were trying to play." Acacia gave a quiet laugh at the memory, half because it amused her, half to cover the sound of her friend's sniffling. "But now..." Kadalia paused, swallowed, and Acacia could almost sense the other girl pulling herself together. "Caish, we went to my parents' farm first, then my Uncle Dan's. The clones had already hit there, and—" She took a shuddering gasp, and Acacia felt the pain in her ForceMark just before Kadalia clamped it down and pretended to be calm again. "They'd... already killed them, Mom, Dad, Uncle Dan, Aunt Lei. Burned the bodies and everything. I... I found their _skeletons." _Kady bit off each word, like saying them violently could make their reality hurt less.

Acacia somehow found the strength to stand and sit at her best friend's side. "I'm really sorry, Kady."

Something in Kadalia's face went hard. "Yeah, me, too. And now," Kadalia looked back at Danny. "this kid's the only family I've got left."

"Acacia, Kady." Anakin's voice sounded behind them, and they both whirled around at the roughness in it. "We're having a meeting in the other room. We need to decide what we're doing next."

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	51. Chapter 47: Part 2

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Chapter 47: Part 2

Considering the circumstances, things were actually going pretty well until Rex took his helmet off. General Skywalker's lightsaber shot out faster than a lightning bolt, but he paused, a note of recognition in his face when his eyes actually met his old captain's.

Rex swallowed, forcing himself not to show fear. "Sir."

"Anakin, wait!" Kadalia dove between them. "Sorry, we should've explained this earlier. Rex is still on our side."

The general—somehow, Rex still thought of him that way—quirked an eyebrow, but his lightsaber didn't waver. Rex hadn't seen the man look this manic and deadly since... well, _ever._ "You sure?" Anakin asked.

"_Positive_," Kadalia replied. "Now could you turn the saber off? We'll explain everything when no one's in imminent danger of death." Something flitted across Skywalker's face, and it occurred to Rex that the general probably didn't appreciate receiving orders from someone half his age and three-quarters his size; but, apparently sensing no intended injury from his former captain, General Skywalker sheathed his lightsaber. He staggered a step backward and then nodded at Rex. "Okay, go ahead. Explain."

"Sir!" Captain Rex snapped a salute and began. "All of the clones knew about Order 66 from our creation; it was a way of reminding us that our loyalties lay with the Chancellor alone and with the Jedi only as long as you served his purposes. We were told that you were hypocrites, that your Order represented all that was wrong with the Galaxy, and that when the time came to end you, we would be doing a service to every innocent in the systems.

"Then I and my legion spent three years fighting alongside you, General Kenobi, and Commander Lars, and many of us grew, well, _fond_ of you, sir, for lack of a better word. You represented the only _right_ left in the Galaxy, and so we, along with Commander Cody and a few of his men, resolved to do everything in our power to protect you when the Chancellor called for Order 66.

"As you know, the 501st wasn't with you when the order was issued; but to the best of our abilities, we protected other Jedi, then deserted to escape our own execution. We began to gather troopers from other legions who'd refused to execute the order, and eventually, our group grew too large to remain hidden. So we stole a ship and traveled to the Outer Rim. While we were plotting our next step, we came across the Defenders on an outlying Imperial base and allied with them to search for more Jedi and to find a way to bring the Emperor's reign to an end."

General Skywalker nodded, exactly like he used to when Rex gave his reports. "So you never betrayed us."

"That's right, sir."

"Well." Skywalker gave a slight chuckle. "That's nice to know."

Rex finally let himself relax. "Indeed, Sir."

"So, all you guys..." Acacia gestured to the beings in the crowded room, all dressed in clone armor, leaning against a barrel of equipment or lounging on the coarse sand floor. "I thought you were all Defenders kids in disguise."

"Some of us are," one of the clones said, as he and the others followed Rex's example and finally removed their helmets. "But obviously, some of us are clone troopers too."

"So not _everyone_ is against us," Acacia quipped, slumping against the shelf behind her. "Yay. I guess this is the part where we figure out how to take care of the people that _are_ against us."

Kadalia chuckled. "Sounds fair. And as my Master used to say, always start with what you know."

Acacia raised an eyebrow. "What exactly is that?"

"There's something going on with the Imperial clones."

"We noticed," Anakin deadpanned.

Kadalia rolled her eyes. "I _mean..._ Well, it'll be easier if I start from the beginning. We had just met up with _these_ clones—" She gestured to the ones around her—"while raiding one of the _Imperial_ clones' training facilities—"

"You went all the way to Kamino?"

"No, that's what I was trying to tell you. Chet and Exra, our hackers, they were intercepting comms from all over the Outer Rim, trying to find some hiJedi or Corps kids, when they heard about a new set of clone factories on an uninhabited system near here. We decided to check it out—you know, steal some equipment and info—but while we were there, we stumbled across one of their training sessions. They're not just... _breeding_ clones out there—sorry if that's insensitive, you guys—they're training most of them to be actual _Sith_."

Acacia nodded. "Like we saw today."

"Yeah! And the others, the ones that don't get into 'Sith school' for whatever reason, they're getting some sort of chip implant."

"I'd heard about that before," one of the clones piped up, his eyes narrowed, accenting the twisted line of tattoos along his temple. "Before I deserted, there were a lotta rumors going around my regiment about the development of a new implant to make us more compliant." He quirked a half-smile at Rex and the other clones who'd been a part of Anakin's legion. "I guess because we proved to be a little hard-headed from time to time." Chuckles sprang up around the room, but exhaustion killed them before they could grow too loud.

"Anyways," Kadalia went on, "we were going to go to Coruscant and warn the Council, but Imperials saw us on the way out and almost shot one of our ships down. We were able to get out without being traced, but our main transport had taken some pretty heavy fire, and the closest place we could find for repairs was Tatooine.

"Ahsoka and most of the others wanted to stay with the first ship to make sure the repairs got done, but it was just too many of us congregating in one place to _not_ raise suspicion, so I took half our crew and the other ship and flew halfway across the planet." Kadalia paused, then gave a quick chuckle, but Acacia noticed that her eyes had fixed on the ground and that, somewhere in her storytelling, her voice has lost its animation. "It wasn't just because of that, though. The minute we landed on Tatooine, I had this... this _feeling,_ like something was happening to my family. I didn't know if they were being attacked by Tuskens or if the crops had gone bad and they were starving or _what_, but I knew I had to help them. Chet and Clayton thought I was being crazy, but they couldn't talk me out of it or and they couldn't stop me from going." Kady shrugged, and Acacia could sense her friend's barely-there control beginning to fray. "In the end, I just wish I'd got the feeling earlier."

"The clones had already been to your homestead." Anakin's voice was gentler than it had been all day.

Kadalia nodded. "Burned it to the ground. Then I checked my aunt and uncle's place." She shook her head and gulped, using her fist to dash away a tear. "Only things left were their bodies and the ashes.

"So I... I raced to check on your homestead, hoping we could somehow beat them here." She forced a smile to smother her grief. "Didn't expect _two_ Jedi to have already beat _us_ here."

Acacia gave a soft laugh. "Seems like it's been a day for surprising things."

Kadalia scoffed and nodded. "Amen to that."

"So," Clayton said, after a moment of silence, "what now?"

"Now," Anakin said slowly, "we figure out a way to fight back."

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	52. Chapter 48: Part 1

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Chapter 48: Part 1

They decided to contact the Council like the Defenders had planned to do in the first place (and _would've_ done, Clayton hastened to add, if they hadn't gotten shot at).

As Anakin set up the commlink-projector, Kadalia and Acacia's eyes met, and they both knew they'd both noticed the stoic, boiling-fury-below-the-surface way he was acting. Like he was holding a mountain of rage on the inside, and the slightest annoyance would cause it all to come bursting out.

Acacia gave a tentative knock at the door of his mind. _Anakin?_ He didn't respond, but in the silence, she could actually _sense_ him scrambling to cover up his secrets, burying whatever it was that burned him inside, left him sleepless, and kept the Dark roiling off him in little, prickly waves.

She pulled back.

His eyes bounced to meet hers, but then they darted away again, and he said nothing, either aloud or in their minds. Did he really think that _hiding_ like a youngling would keep her from finding out the truth?

Acacia bit back a sigh—of annoyance, exhaustion, pain—and tried it again. _Ani..._

This time there was nothing to hide. His mind was as smooth as the surface of a Nabooian sea—a sea that held a million deadly creatures somewhere in its depths. _Maybe,_ she said slowly,_ we should let the Defenders take care of the first part._

_What? Why do you say that?_

Acacia paused, trying to figure out how she could _nicely_ explain that his clothes were tattered, his arms were singed, and he looked as haggard as if he hadn't slept in a week—which might have been more or less the case. That she hadn't even gotten to the part where every Force-Sensitive in a five-mile radius could feel the flare of fury in his ForceMark every time the Council was mentioned, and that, to be honest, some of the kids were looking a little worried.

But since her mind was already open to _him,_ he could see all that she wasn't sure how to say. To her surprise, he smiled slightly. _That bad, huh?_

She gave a little smirk in return. _Worse._

She heard the slightest of chuckles from her brother's mind. After he completed the setup, Anakin stood, told Kadalia she could take care of informing the Council while he washed himself up, and then he simply walked away.

Acacia watched her brother go until the door swung shut behind him.

* * *

As strange as it had been to see himself through his sister's eyes, Anakin couldn't deny that it had been good for him. A sort of... wake-up call, so to speak.

He had to hide himself better.

As he cleaned up in a nearby storage building, every blink almost an act of the Force, he could feel his burn mark pulsing. It didn't burn like it had earlier, but every couple of seconds, it would give him a little squeeze, like it just wanted to remind him that it was still there.

He wasn't stupid; of course he knew he'd touched the Dark as he fought, and of course he knew that, even now, he hadn't completely withdrawn from it. He wanted to, knew he needed to but at the same time... it had _worked,_ hadn't it? That Dark usage was the only reason he and his sister had still been alive when the Defenders came, and the only way they'd've made it out alive if the Defenders had never come at all.

He would try not to go any farther; he knew where the Dark Side led. But he couldn't regret what let him save his family.

Anakin ignored the pulsing in his chest and pushed his exhaustion away; as he rubbed the remains of a bacta tube into his burns and changed into an old outfit of Cliegg's he'd found, Anakin spun a single question around in his head: _Why_? Why had the clones attacked? Had Palpatine discovered where they'd gone and sent his cronies after them? But then why attack the other homesteads first? And why the shock from the clones when they met up with real Jedi?

Perhaps they'd been sent to intercept the Defenders, but again, why attack _farmers_ with no guarantee that Kadalia would ever even know about the damage? It all seemed so infuriatingly random. Yet Anakin knew that when it came to the Empire, no such thing as random existed.

_It's there,_ he told himself. _The answer is_ right there_. You're just not seeing it._

Something clanged against the wall. It took Anakin only a second to realize that it was Owen's old box of tools, and that he'd Force-hurled it across the room without even thinking about it.

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	53. Chapter 48: Part 2

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for your support of my story! Shameless little plug, you should also share the love with a friend of mine on here, Emma. I don't think links work in stories, but her username is purpledramagirl, and her Star Wars story is entitled "Hidden Fate." It's still in-progress, but I have a feeling it's gonna get pretty good. :)**

**And without further ado...**

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Chapter 48: Part 2

As he returned to the other storage building, a tingling shock in the Force told Anakin that a group of unfamiliar beings had gathered inside along with the Defenders and his family. His hand shot to his lightsaber—before he realized that nothing in their Marks suggested malice and remembered that they'd all been waiting for the rest of the Defenders anyway. Finger-by-finger, Anakin released his grip on his lightsaber; as he strode inside, his fear was still raging.

He spotted his sister immediately, sitting at the front of an enormous semi-circle with Kadalia and a young Togruta whose name he didn't know. As he slipped forward, several of the kids on the outskirts turned, stared, and whispered. _"It's the Hero."_

_"I didn't know he was here."_

_"I didn't know he was even_ alive_."_

A scoff. _"Please. Not even Palpatine could kill_ him_."_

Anakin gave a bitter scoff of his own. _Kid, I've got a prophecy that says something entirely different._

He finally made it to the front and settled on the crate next to Acacia. She gave him a quick smile before they both turned their attention to the Council. "Disturbing your information is," the Grand Master said. "Hrm. Very, very disturbing."

"Do you have any idea how many of these clones exist?" Mace asked.

"Well, before _we_ got here," Kadalia replied, "there were at least a few dozen of them. Now there are zero."

Mace gave her a look like a Master long-tried. "But you have no idea if there are any sets _besides_ these?"

"Well, no."

"Uh, Master?" Acacia piped up. "I just remembered something: several weeks ago, I accompanied Senator Amidala to a meeting with some other resistance leaders in the Senate. While they were talking, we were attacked by a bunch of clones—"

"Like _these_?" JachLon interrupted, and Anakin felt his anger swell at the incredulous way Jach addressed his sister. "And you waited till _now_ to tell us?"

"They _weren't_ like these, actually," Acacia replied, sorta-kinda-but-not-really keeping the annoyance out of her tone. "In fact, I think they were the ones with the brain chip."

The Masters exchanged a quick look. "Why?" Mace asked.

"I... I don't know, it was in the way they moved, the way they acted. They were slower for one thing. Didn't think on their feet very well, unlike the soldiers I used to know." She winked at the ones nearest to her. "And their only strength was numbers. They just... _shot._ And killed. No real strategy, not really paying attention. Honestly, they acted a lot like droids."

"Hrm," Yoda mused. "So in one case, traded competence for obedience the Emperor has. But strengthen the other he does, to compensate."

Mace nodded. "It does appear that way." He paused, and it seemed the Council spent those seconds silently deliberating before Mace spoke again, "Anakin, you are the only Knight there, correct?"

Anakin gave a short nod. "I am."

"Then we place you in command of the mission."

"Mission?" Kadalia asked, at the same time as one of the other kids butted in: "Hold up, with all due respect, _Master Jedi_, we're not here to follow your orders or go on your missions. We just thought you'd like to know that Old Emps is training a bunch of clones to be Sith. That's all."

"Shut _up_, Chet," Kadalia admonished, and before he could retort, the Togruta girl held up her hand like a weary parent, then turned to face the Council. "What did you have in mind, Master?"

"We've been in negotiations," Obi-Wan began, "with several members of a political resistance known as the Delegation of 2000, attempting to organize a way to politically and peacefully end the Emperor's rule."

Chet snorted loudly. Obi-Wan ignored him. "However they've recently informed us that several units of 'modified' clone troopers have been deployed onto each of their planets and any others considering resistance. Palpatine claims the troopers are a safety precaution to aid the Imperial transition."

"We all know that's a load of—"

"But the planet that has received the most troopers is Naboo."

Anakin sat up straight. "Why Naboo?"

"The Emperor claims it 'requires more protection' than other planets, as it's been a high target in recent wars, and they're especially unprotected right now considering the recent murder of their top security officer, Gregar Typho"—Anakin winced at the reminder of the man's death—"with a lightsaber."

Chet said a very rude word, and Kadalia gasped. "The people can't actually suspect _us_?"

"The people's suspicions are irrelevant," Master Windu replied. "It's the Imperial propaganda that's heard by most, and _that_ is certainly insinuating that a Jedi was involved in his death.

"We suspect so many are quartered on Naboo because it's one of the resistance leaders. Senator Amidala is one of the Delegation's strongest speakers. Queen Jamilla and her advisors do everything but openly condemn the Emperor's reign. They are a beacon of freedom, hope, and democracy. If they fall—"

"So do the others," Kadalia murmured, finishing with him.

"So," Anakin stated, "you want us to fight for Naboo."

"Not initially," Obi-Wan amended. "The Jedi are spread thin enough as it is and starting a fight with Imperials will only give truth to the Emperor's lies. Don't engage unless you have to. We'd simply like someone on hand in case the situation... escalates."

"But you already _know_ it will." _Stay calm,_ Anakin reminded himself as the anger flared and roiled. "Palpatine's quartering heavily armed soldiers on a planet that carries very little weaponry and has almost no history of violence. Something like that won't defuse on it's own, Obi-Wan. He's setting them up for a planet-wide _massacre_."

Anakin's former Master paused, but in the end, he had to agree. "More than likely, you're right."

"A blow like that..." the Togruta girl whispered, "a planet-wide massacre, that could knock all the wind out of their resistance."

"And the Galaxy's." Mace admitted gravely. "Which is precisely what we need you to prevent."

Anakin looked over at the Togruta girl, the other major leader in the room, and suddenly, her name came rushing back to him: _Ahsoka,_ that's what Acacia had told him. They both had a reason to hate the Council: Ashoka for being left to fend for herself after Order 66, and Anakin for the secrets they'd kept about the prophecy surrounding his actual life. But with a planetful of beings and a Galaxy's freedom at stake, they both knew they had to put their own problems aside.

"All right," Anakin said, his face still tight and grim. "To Naboo, we go."

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	54. Chapter 49

**Hello lovelies! Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and subscribing!**

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Chapter 49

"Hey, Caish!"

Acacia turned at the sound of her best friend's voice then continued with the makeshift bed she was setting up in their ship for Owen. Force, she _should_ feel exhausted enough to crawl into that bed herself, but somehow, the reappearance of her friends, the reassurance that her family was out of the woods (or out of the the fire, more accurately), and the call to serve on Naboo had given her a resurgence of energy (or, at the very least, of adrenaline). "Hey, Kady," she called back, as her friend set to work beside her. "Something wrong?"

Kadalia shrugged, but her eyes wouldn't budge the sheet she was tying up. "I uh, I saw Anakin as I was checking in on the infirmary."

"Yeah... And?"

Kadalia stopped. "Acacia... is he okay?"

All of her sudden energy seemed to dissipate as her mind recalled the shadows that flitted across her brother's face, the exhaustion lurking in his eyes, and the first word that came to Acacia's mind was _no._ Her brother was not okay, and as she looked back, she realized he might not have been for the past few weeks. Every attack made him worse; as their lives straight-up spiraled out of control, his issues swelled from a small lizard's sand hill into a bantha-sized dune.

But even as close as she and Kady were, Acacia couldn't bring herself to admit that to her friend. That was Anakin's business, and besides, "He's as fine as can be expected."

"Meaning?"

A biting response shot to the tip of her tongue, but just in time, Acacia pulled it back and sighed. "He's... he's been dealing with a lot lately. It's complicated. And, well..."

"Private?"

Acacia snapped a sheet into place with her excess emotions. "Yeah."

"Gotcha," Kadalia muttered. "You know," she added a little louder, "I noticed something else while I was back there."

"Yeah?" Acacia tried not to sound too excited about the change in subject. "What?"

"Well," Kadalia started, and Acacia couldn't figure out why the corners of her mouth were twitching upward. "Those kids you two went back to save. At first, you know, I figured they were Owen and Beru's. But then... I don't know, it was the way he was looking at them... and the way he was talking to Senator Amidala..."

Acacia burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I never got the chance to tell you! But yeah, they secretly got married at the beginning of the Clone Wars, and she just had the twins a few months ago."

Kadalia puffed, flopping a lock of hair out of her eyes. "_Nice._ How the heck did they keep it a secret, though?"

Acacia rolled her eyes. "With great difficulty."

"And a lot of help from you?"

She smirked. "One might say that."

Kadalia shook her head and chuckled. "And the Council never found out?"

"Well, no. I mean, they didn't until recently." Acacia heard footsteps approaching, but this was one secret she knew her brother didn't mind sharing. "Anakin told them after Order 66 and all that crap."

"And they didn't boot him immediately?" a voice asked, and she saw it was Chet entering the hatch, carrying a barrel of provisions from the sheds.

Acacia shrugged. "Well, of course they _thought_ about it. But then, well, I guess they realized he'd almost single-handedly saved the Temple—I'll explain that one another time—and decided he was worth keeping on."

"Hmph," Chet replied as the three of them exited the ship. "He seems like the kind of guy the Council actually _needs_." He paused, cocked his head, looked Acacia up and down, then jerked his chin at her. "How do you know so much about him anyway?"

Acacia didn't even try to hide her swelling pride. "Well, he's my brother."

Chet's eyebrows shot to the double suns, and he stared at her as if he could somehow find the truth written in her face, but before he could say anything, the very man in question came up to them. "Everything ready?"

"Yeah, _bro_," Acacia said, suddenly unable to resist the term when she saw the reaction Chet had had. "We're all set and ready to go."

Anakin didn't even seem to notice. "Great," he replied, though his mouth was too grim and his face was too tight to seem like he actually meant the words. "Then let's get ready to move out."

* * *

He looked down at the hands that shook with exhaustion one metal, one human, both _weak_, when called upon for something important. He stared down at the sleeping babies' faces in this brief and strange moment of quiet, their expressions almost peaceful—if not for the oxygen masks wrapped around their noses, supplying their tiny lungs with clean air as they waited for the effects of the smoke inhalation to dissipate. He wished he could_ fix_ it, heal them, rip the tubes out and give them the very air from his _own_ lungs, anything to make up for failing them as he had.

He turned his head away and clenched the hands into fists instead. He needed to focus. They were moving now, out of the storage building, the makeshift shelter of the last few hours, and into the ships for the trip to Naboo. In these quiet moments, he couldn't help but wonder what he thought he was doing, toting his infant children, injured wife and brother, and pregnant sister-in-law straight into a war zone. And yet...

It wasn't as though he could leave them here. The homestead had been desecrated; there was truly _nothing_ left. And moisture farmers, hospitable as they could be, were not likely to take in a whole crew they only vaguely knew for who-knew-how-long. Besides, Anakin couldn't just abandon his family for weeks on Tatooine while he flew off to fight some war on Naboo.

Although, with his recent failures, they might be better off without him.

He shook off that thought. Stupid, useless, _and_ false. Even if he had failed again.

He was doing very poorly by his family, he knew that. Everytime they needed him, he could _never _reach them in time. Just that morning, he'd missed _three_ of the troopers, they'd gotten into the homestead, and nearly killed Padme. Then, he hadn't sensed the second set coming around the back and they'd nearly burned the twins alive. They _would_ have, in fact, if not for that boy, Danny, protecting them with his own life, when he, _Anakin,_ should've gotten them to safety long before.

So yes. He had failed. And miserably.

But it wouldn't happen again.

In his sleep, Luke shifted towards his father, and Anakin felt Leia's Waves in the Force brushing affectionately against his own.

He would go to Naboo and he would protect the citizens from Sidious, just as the _Council_ had requested. But through it all, Anakin resolved to never lose sight of the real reason why he was fighting.

He fought for his family. And he would not fail them again.

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	55. Chapter 50

**Hey guys, sorry this chapter took SO LONG. I was out of town for a while and I meant to get the chapter up before I left, but unfortunately, I didn't get around to it. Then after I got back, I had a family emergency to deal with... :( So yeah. Sorry again, but I do hope you enjoy! :D**

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Chapter 50

The astral-blue light of her mother's form faded. She'd procrastinated watching the hologram since she'd gotten it; considering what Anakin had learned in his, well, Acacia hadn't been sure she _wanted _to know what her mother intended to say to her.

The girl grimaced. Even in her head that sounded awful.

She glanced out the window, at the crystal energy of hyperspace whizzing by. She was on one of the ships headed back to Naboo, but as crowded as the cruiser was with Defenders recruits and rebel clones, the escape pod hanger was the only place she'd been able to find that wasn't overrun with beings whose emotions were wound as tight and tense as her own.

Before she'd come here though, she'd gone to check on Owen; he was barely awake, but every time she saw his slightly-less-pale face, she was reassured that he would, at least, survive. Even if his leg would never be the same.

After that she'd curled up in this escape pod for a nap, exhaustion affording her the best rest she'd had in ages. But when she'd awoken, stared out the window at the lightyears streaking past, an intense feeling of sadness had stabbed her in the chest. That was her _home_ she'd left behind, in fragments of ash and shards of glass. It was the house she'd been born in, the sand she'd spent her early years playing in—the same house her parents had gotten married, the same sand under which both of them were now buried.

Her eyes began to moisten, but she shook the tears away. Now was _not_ the time to get to crying. She'd done enough of that lately anyway, worrying Anakin—and herself—with her mood swings, brooding about her place in life, whining about wanting to return to Tatooine. And then she'd gotten there and what had she found?

Exactly what she'd been looking for.

She flipped the hologram again.

For more than two months, the restlessness had swirled in the back of her head, unnameable, intangible, just _something, _something that kept her awake half the night, stewed in her mind throughout the day, caused an unrest to stir inside her soul, whispering that, everything, _everything_ about her life right now, was wrong. She had lost everything she'd spent all her years working towards, and now, now she did _nothing._ The Galaxy was coming to pieces, and she simply sat on Naboo, watching her brother and his wife alternatively make out and marvel at their own children—which was, incidentally, exactly how she'd feared her life would turn out when Anakin first told her that Padme was pregnant.

It wasn't that she'd _wanted _someone to fall into peril so that she could save them, or even that she was craving adventure or missing the action of her Jedi life. She just needed _something,_ something to drive her, guide her, show her her path now that all her mooring points—Obi-Wan, the Jedi Order, even her brother himself—were slipping away. Somehow, it had come about in her head that she needed to go to Tatooine, the place where she seemed to begin.

Looking back on her thoughts, they didn't quite make sense. She'd only been six when she and Kadalia were taken from Tatooine by space pirates; seven, when they'd helped rescue a young Jedi by the name of Siri Tachi and that same Jedi—though unable to take them as padawans—had vouched for their training before the Council. As such, Acacia only had a few memories of her birthplanet: she remembered how the house had looked in front of her, strong and welcoming when she ran in from days helping out on the farm; she remembered how the sand glittered in the suns, like Papa's smile or Mama's eyes when she came in the door; she remembered her mother's gentleness when Shmi gave her the charm necklace made of sand jewels, and how she hugged Acacia tight every morning and every night, but most of these recollections were fuzzy at best. While she surely loved her parents, she didn't remember them very well. In fact, her strongest memories of her mother were of her death. And that was probably the hardest part.

Still, somehow, in her mother's message, Shmi had managed to speak directly to Acacia's insecurities, encouraging her to forge her _own_ path, to be strong, to fight for her dreams, and to never lose her spark. To use _that_, her own heart, to find her way in the Galaxy... and of course to remember that she was always, always loved.

Acacia rubbed the edge of the hologram with her fingertips.

It was in those moments, as her mother's words washed over her, that Acacia had seen what she'd been looking for this whole time: it wasn't a place, it wasn't people...

It was purpose.

Before, she'd found her purpose in the war, in the Order, in her family, in her brother. When all those things were ended or destroyed or seemingly slipping away, she'd felt lost, adrift in a sea that could never understand her struggles, every focal point swept carelessly to the side, leaving her to drown.

She clenched the hologram between her fists and forced herself to breathe.

She didn't magically know her purpose just from hearing her mother's words, but she knew what her problem was and she knew how she had to fix it.

She had to let go.

Not of all that she feared to lose—she'd already lost so much, she'd fight to the death for whatever she had left—but of her expectations. Her perceptions on life and her purpose within it. Her desperate desire to cling to forged memories, the wispy remains of a past long gone. Once she did that, she'd be unobstructed, free to see where her next steps were supposed to lead.

Acacia closed her eyes, her grip on her hologram loosened, and in the threads of the stars, she could see the pulse of the Living Force, tying her soul and her story to someone else.

_Anakin_.

Though not in the way she'd thought he would, her brother _was_ slipping away. He hadn't withdrawn completely, but the gossamer thread of Dark in his soul grew by the hour. She hadn't been strong enough to tell him _no_ when their family was at stake, to make him believe that there was another way—that there was _always _a better way—than going Dark Side. She'd sensed how his insecurities had fueled him, whirling into rage with a side of self-loathing... and she'd done nothing to stop him.

But that didn't mean that she could not help him now.

She slipped her mother's hologram into her pocket—right next to her old picture of Owen and the charm necklace she'd found again—stood, and exited the escape pod.

She had a point, she had a purpose, and she had work to do.

* * *

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	56. Chapter 51

**Hey guys! I am so sorry these last few chapters have had such long periods in between them! I can't make any promises about faster posting, but I will _definitely_ try. :)**

* * *

Chapter 51

Naboo was already different.

It wasn't devastated or war-torn; there was no dead-smell in the air like Acacia remembered from Utapau, nor the skittering fear in every ForceMark that she'd felt on occupied planets during the war. But there _was_ something different in the air; every breath felt thick with the planet's tension. People were quieter. The smiles they used to eagerly trade were now tossed over their shoulders as they hurried home. Though the Festival of Light was fast approaching, the sporadic decorations seemed to sag under the weight of the atmosphere. The clone patrols were sparse in comparison to battletime conditions, but their military presence in residential neighborhoods made each home seem like a cell on a prison block. And all this in less than a week.

Acacia understood why the Council had wanted them to return so quickly.

After she finished scouting her assigned area, she met up with Anakin and the others in the silent woods where they'd landed their ships. It had been her idea to have a few runners survey the nearest neighborhoods so they could gauge the atmosphere and the attitude of the citizens. Anakin had agreed quickly, and she sensed he was both pleased that she had come up with a plan and disgusted that he hadn't.

The runners reported: the Imperial clones were not oppressive, but their presence made the Naboo nervous. As soon as the troopers had crossed a block, everyone would talk about the sudden changes. Some wanted to believe in Palpatine for "old time's sake," others were ready to take him off his throne with their own two hands; few were staunch Imperial supporters, but whenever they were present, everyone was as careful with their words as the were when the clones were around.

Acacia had just finished her more-or-less repeated report of everyone else's story, when Kadalia suddenly spoke up: "Where's Clayton?"

Before anyone could panic, the boy's ForceMark approached and he sprinted into view. "Sorry... I'm late."

Anakin's gaze cut to him. "Were you chased?

"No. Well..." Clayton shrugged. "Briefly. But I lost him. Mostly, I was running because I found out some pretty big stuff and I thought you'd want to hear it as soon as possible."

The shift in the air was clear: _We're listening._

"I came across an old Imperial address playing in a NetShop. Most of what Emps said was crap of course, but then he started talking about why he'd deployed the new clones. _Apparently,_ some Jedi have been attacking citizens in the Outer Rim, but having ravaged the outside planets, they're moving inward. _Obviously_, he fears his beloved homeplanet will be next."

"Jedi attacking people? In cold blood?" Acacia's fists clenched. "No one can actually—" Her words ended in a strangled gasp. "The attacks on our homesteads."

"Bingo," Clayton said. "According to the Emperor, Tatooine was one of several planets hit. Though of course he neglected to mention that a group of _real_ Jedi were the ones who held off _his_ fake cronies."

Anakin swore inwardly, and though no one heard the words, most could sense his ire rising. But, as it was almost identical to the way they themselves felt, most of the kids ignored it.

Acacia did not.

"There's more," Clayton added.

"Good news?" Ahsoka asked.

"Pfft, like we should be so lucky. No..." Clayton shook his head, and something pained and weary crawled into his words. "He said... a group of clone troopers had discovered one of the Jedi hideouts."

_No,_ the word whisper-screamed through their company. He wouldn't announce that unless—

"He said his people 'freed' Utapau, which the Jedi had been 'occupying.'" Clayton's voice grew hard, like a circle of rock defenses, and Acacia suddenly remembered that Utapau was his homeplanet. "They squashed the rebellion there. No survivors."

She felt it like a vibroblade ripping through her brother's ForceMark. Koresck Loardash, Anakin's best friend from the Temple, the one who'd fought by his side for most of their apprenticeship, kept his secrets throughout the Clone Wars, even saved Anakin's life in his first duel with Vader, had been stationed on Utapau.

"If there are no survivors," Anakin said, and Acacia wondered if she was the only who could tell he was biting off every syllable, "why does he think the Jedi are moving inward?"

"He wants to be thorough." Clayton's tone was identical. "His 'intelligence' claims that that there were too many attacks for that to be the only outpost. Rest assured, though, he's looking for the rest of us." Clayton scoffed. "In the meantime..."

"Extra 'protection,'" Chet spat.

"Do you think..." Kady began, "do you think he knows we're here?"

Clayton frowned. "He implied that some Jedi might be hiding out already"—Anakin's head snapped up—"but no, I don't think he knows we're here."

"How can you be sure?" Ahsoka asked. "The Emperor knows a lot of things, and from my studies, it seems like Naboo's been friendly to the Jedi in the last few wars."

"Yeah," Clayton admitted, "but it was just the way he was talking. Too vague. And like I said, the address was a replay. From yesterday, I think, while we were still in hyperspace."

Acacia watched her brother nod slowly, processing the information. _I still don't like it,_ she thought to him, testing their connection.

_Me either._

"You all stay with the ships for now," Anakin said finally. "There's too many for us to just drop into Nabooian life and not be noticed."

Ahsoka nodded before any of her people could protest. "What are you going to do?"

Anakin paused before answering, "Check in with Padme; see what she learned in her comm with the queen."

"You're not going to contact the Council," Chet ventured, almost hopefully.

Anakin's fist clenched behind his back. "Only if I have to."

* * *

It all might've seemed more bearable, maybe, if it was his own home he was able to return to. But the Sith had already broken in once, Ruwee and Jobal's place was nearer to the obscure woods they'd had to park the ships in, and it was easier on their injured if they didn't have as far to travel. All-in-all, when he and Acacia had discussed things as they entered the Nabooian atmosphere, staying at his in-laws' place had simply made the most sense.

The Naberries had been as welcoming as he'd expected. But, after a short lecture about his "responsibilities," they'd at least let the injured strangers stay while Anakin and Acacia scouted out the nearby cities.

Now, he reentered the house and immediately found his "responsibilities" seated on the couch with Dorme, watching a recorded Imperial address on a datapad. "And so, dear citizens, for your own safety, I desired to give you the protection you deserve. Naboo is my home and every one of you my family. Whatever transpires," He smiled gently. "I shall never forget that."

As the image faded, Padme turned to look at Anakin; though he sensed the fury in her Forcemark, the pressure in his own chest eased. "Ani." Her voice wasn't weak anymore, and her face held only a hint of the pain from her injuries. "I guess you heard that?"

"Yeah. The last bit," he said, as he took his daughter from Dorme's arms, and Leia's hands jerked up like she was trying to swipe at his hair. "What'd he have to say this time?"

"Bunch of rubbish," Dorme muttered. "Same as always.

Padme gave the slightest of smiles. "More or less. But... he also gave his own reason behind the Tatooine attacks—"

_A flash of the inferno surrounding his children._ "I know. One of the kids saw a replay in a NetShop. He was able to piece the majority together."

"Ani...,"Padme began, "I'm so sorry." He knew she spoke of the attacks, Kory, his struggles, everything.

Anakin shook his head, fighting against the hate straining in his chest. "What did you learn?" he asked. "In your comm with the queen?"

Her eyes probed him for a moment, but when his wife spoke, she only said, "Palpatine's been far less benevolent in his conversations with her. She's terrified, but she's also determined to make sure Naboo stays free." Guilt laced Padme's voice, and in the next second, Anakin realized: she felt as wrong as he did for leaving the planet at such a crucial time. "He's pushing her to accept a new law—a house searching act—and she's afraid that he'll win no matter how hard she fights."

"A house-searching act?" Acacia announced her question from the bottom of the stairs, after going up to check on Owen. "Why?"

Padme didn't answer at first, but by the time she did, everyone had already solved the puzzle for themselves. "He knows Naboo has been friendly to the Jedi; he wants to make it clear that we won't be safe hiding here."

"Does he know _we're_ here?" Acacia whispered, as if Sidious might hear her somehow if she spoke any louder than that.

"It doesn't matter," Anakin murmured, and as he said it, he realized just how true it was: Palpatine might not have any idea which planet they were on, but he was making it clear that, wherever they were, he would search them out. If Anakin didn't join him, Palpatine would kill them all. "We have to beat him. Now." _Before he breaks this planet..._ His eyes found his daughter's as her tiny lips quirked into what might have been a smile._ ...or finds you._

"Well, yeah," Acacia agreed slowly. "But _how_? I mean, he's on Coruscant; when will we get the chance?"

"Ah,I suppose you didn't hear that part," Dorme cut in. "He said at the beginning of the address that he's coming home. The Emperor intends to return to Naboo."

* * *

He contacted the Council only because Acacia insisted and because they needed a better army than some kids and some clones. Surprisingly, the Council seemed to agree.

"We had already received General Loardash's communication about the Utapau attacks," Master Ti said. "His troops were overwhelmed and he was evacuating whomever he could, but his communication was cut off and we haven't been able to contact him since. We cannot be certain whether or not they survived."

Anakin consciously pushed away what Palpatine had said about "no survivors." Sidious was a Sith after all; all he ever did was lie.

"We've also heard from our contacts on other planets," Master Ti continued, "that extra legions of clones or even droids have been deployed, and the house-searching act is already going into effect—even where it has not officially been passed."

"He's cleaning us out," Acacia murmured, and Master Ti nodded her agreement. "He's making it clear that he intends to find us, sooner rather than later."

"Our best option for survival is to defeat him," Master Windu said, "Now, at his own game before he can gain any more momentum. General Skywalker, you have our permission to act as you choose—but on one condition."

Anakin's suspicions were already sky-high, but even now he knew better than to outright refuse. "Which is?"

"You watch the holocron of the Prophecy."

* * *

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	57. Chapter 52

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* * *

Chapter 52

Silence.

Of all the things that had happened in the past weeks, from Darred's betrayal to the arrival of the Jedi-clad, clone killers, nothing surprised him more than this.

It was Acacia who finally choked out the word, "... _What_?"

"We know you both resent us," Master Ti said, "for our insistence on adhering to the Code and for what you perceived as a lack of trust in you. But we had strong reasons for everything that we did; the Prophecy is the basis for most of them."

His mother's words on the Prophecy sprang into his head, and Anakin's annoyance flared. "You're not apologizing."

"No," she admitted. "But keeping this from you has only led to your distrust. We wish to have you _alongside_ us, Anakin. And we hope that that will come when you understand why we treated you and the Prophecy the way we have."

Anakin and Acacia exchanged a look, then Anakin's eyes strayed to Obi-Wan, sitting at the edge of the hologram, his lips drawn into a tight line, his face carefully guarded.

Only his padawans could see that his eyes were pained.

_At least they're being honest with us now,_ Acacia ventured.

Anakin scoffed in reply—out loud. _So they claim._

"So," he added, addressing the Council. "Where _is_ your precious Prophecy?"

Several of the members shifted at his flippant tone, but Master Windu replied as coolly as ever. "It's been written in the Force for millennia. A few hundred years ago, members of the Order found it written on parchments hidden in an old base and attempted to transcribe it from the ancient language of Seeira to Basic. They were somewhat successful."

"Somewhat."

"Several passages were... unclear," Master Ti said. "Open to interpretation. Even now, we realize there are several pieces that may have been misconstrued in translation or that we may have misconstrued since. However, the Council's final accepted version was recorded in several holocrons and scattered in strategic outposts across the Galaxy."

"What happened to the original?" Acacia asked.

"It was kept in the Temple."

No further explanation was needed for that.

"However, one of the versions was kept hidden in a Corps building; we found it when we went searching for the members assigned to those outposts." She didn't say whether or not they'd found anyone. "This is the version we will transfer to you."

Master Yoda reached into his tunic and retrieved a small, blue cube; it hovered in his fist. "Ready, are you?"

Anakin breathed, suddenly more anxious than angry. He already knew part of what the Prophecy entailed, but the majority of it had always been mysterious to him. Some sort of vague, ancient saying that claimed he had to "bring balance to the Force" (no pressure and whatever the heck that meant). It had never been tangible; often, he could forget that it even existed.

But now, there it floated in front of him, his life's destiny and purpose there, before him, ready to be revealed

He was glad Acacia was there, and he wished Obi-Wan looked less grim.

He swallowed. "We don't have time to waste."

Master Windu's mouth quirked up into the closest thing to a smile Anakin had ever seen on him. "Indeed, we do not."

Yoda's fist tightened on the cube, then sprung open like a loosed trap and the cube expanded, presenting a man in Old Jedi garb, reading from—of all things—a piece of paper.

The prophecy began.

_Born of darkness_

_Brought to light._

_Bonds from past_

_Still clench tight_

_Black creeps in_

_Devours nations_

_Keeps Chosen child_

_In unmerited station_

_Yet Life he holds_

_Within his hands_

_Rhythm of the worlds_

_At his command_

_Darkness swells_

_As he grows_

_Doubt shadowing_

_His every move_

_One rises_

_Chosen son to claim_

_Dark his love_

_And Light his bane_

_Strength extreme_

_Only one can slay_

_The man from whom,_

_For whom he was made_

_Dark enshrouds_

_A dying way_

_Chaining souls_

_Destroying faith_

_The embodiment_

_Of Dark-Light two_

_Collide; one_

_Warfare ensues_

_Force's balance_

_Weighed for wager_

_Death awaits_

_An unlucky player_

_If defeat the Darkness_

_Chosen One is able_

_The Force's flux_

_Will then be stable_

_But if he succumbs_

_To Dark beckoning_

_Light will be lost_

_And Dark be king_

_The Chosen One_

_On our hopes lay_

_Keep him from_

_The Darkest way_

_Though life may leave_

_And breath be erased_

_The balance of the Force_

_Will at last rest in place._

"Is that it?" Acacia asked hoarsely when it was all over, her voice betraying her awe even when her words sounded incredulous.

"That is, as you say,_ it_," JachLan replied. And it was the sharpness in his voice that brought Anakin back. No matter the circumstances or crazy prophecies, anyone speaking to his sister like that was _not _okay.

But before he could address that, Acacia was barreling on. "Some of it was kind of... cryptic."

Yoda nodded. "Easy to misinterpret it was."

Anakin's head was beginning to ache; he just resisted pinching the bridge of his nose to ward off the pain. "You're saying you _don't_ think I'm the Chosen One?"

"On the contrary," Master Ti said, "Chosen is precisely what you are. Qui-Gon was a scholar of the Prophecy; he'd studied this text extensively as well as gathering numerous others on the subject that seemed to identify your early circumstances. The Council was... reluctant to agree with him because of the many mentions of Darkness; honestly, we... well, we would have preferred no Chosen One at all to the return of the Sith. Yet, the Force does not move as we prefer and the signs are aligning; we sense that the time to fulfill the Prophecy is now."

"But wait a second," Acacia said, "all the Sith aren't here. Vader's disappeared."

"We had thought that the prophecy spoke of Anakin and Vader, but the Force now seems to be pointing another way. Regardless, Palpatine is the Sith currently rising and he is the evil that will oppress the Galaxy if his reign is not ended soon. If you are meant to defeat Vader, he will show himself as well."

Anakin's frustration roiled. "Why tell me all this now?" _And not years ago._ "What does it have to do with what's happening on Naboo _today_?"

"We kept this from you so you could avoid undue pressure and so that you could understand the Jedi way before being asked to undertake such a task. Now we're sharing it with you so you can understand your role, Anakin, fully comprehend all that is at stake." Did they think he had any less at stake than they? "So that you can make the correct decision."

"You mean allowing myself to die." A flash of the future where Luke and Leia grew up without a father, without _him_. Ah. And there was the fear again.

"The prophecy is unclear on the subject of your final fate. However, if such is required... you are a Jedi." Somehow, she managed to say it gently. And some part of him was glad it was her and not Mace or Jach speaking, and some part wished it would've been one of them so he could feel anger instead. "We trust you to do your duty."

His eyes turned to his Master's. As if sensing him from across the Galaxy, Obi-Wan looked up, and Anakin couldn't even tell if he was pleading for understanding or if he hadn't known the truth until now.

Anakin returned his attention to the Council members, let his swirling emotions settle into a cool pool in his stomach. "I will do what_ I_ think is right."

* * *

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	58. Chapter 53

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* * *

Chapter 53

It was hard to watch, knowing all her brother truly felt, the fear he was cloaking in defiance. The Council, as usual with no idea how to handle him, had little to say after his declaration and their rebuke; they signed off, saying Obi-Wan would arrive shortly.

As the hologram faded, Acacia faced her brother. He'd shaved the shadow that had grown on Tatooine, but something still murmured in his Mark and burned in his eyes; she couldn't tell if he looked more or less frayed.

"We need to meet with Rex and the Defenders, " he said. "We need to have our plans in place before Sidious. For once."

"We're... not going to wait for Obi-Wan?"

His mechanical fist nearly crushed the hologram projector. "We've already waited long enough."

* * *

Several hours later, they were no more productive than they'd been when they began. The ideas flew back and forth—"We could just assassinate him; Rex is a good enough shot." "March on the palace and take him down in all the confusion." "If we tried it here, he would _never_ see us coming"—but for one reason or another, the plans were always shot down—"He's surrounded by security!" "Did you _miss_ the part where he's surrounded by security?" "That's the most obvious one you've come up with so far, and besides, he is _always_ one step ahead."

It was infuriating. The Festival Sidious was visiting for began in _days_; after it was over, he'd return to Coruscant and getting to him there would be even more impossible than it was here.

Anakin refused to let the Sith slip away this time.

* * *

Obi-Wan arrived the next day. Acacia brought him up just as Padme and Anakin were putting the twins down for a nap. They each laid a baby in a cradle, cupping small heads in gentle hands, and kissed them sweet dreams; Anakin memorized every moment, asked the droids to keep an eye on the babies and alert him if they woke, then turned to face his former Master. Obi-Wan's eyes looked the same: guarded to most, guilty to him.

Anakin turned to Acacia. "Defenders are downstairs?" The second he said it, he could sense them.

Her eyes shot from him to Obi-Wan and back. "Uh, yeah. Kady, Ahsoka, Chet, and Rex. All just waiting on you two."

As they headed towards the stairs, Anakin paused by the rooms of the injured—in the midst of everything the past two days, he'd almost forgotten about them.

"I checked on them a little while ago," Acacia said, stopping beside him. "Everyone's recovering pretty well, though Owen and Danny will still be on bed rest for a few more days."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows scrunched. "Owen? Your other brother? And who's—"

"I'll explain later," Anakin interrupted, ignoring the twinge he felt whenever the Tatooinian boy's name was mentioned. Obviously, he was grateful to Danny for protecting the twins from the fire—with his own _body_ no less—but that was just the problem. As their father, protecting them was_ his_—Anakin's—responsibility. Yet again, he'd failed when they needed him, off chasing a wild bantha, _imagining _he was making progress instead of cutting the danger off at its true source.

One of these days, he wouldn't be so lucky and no other savior would rescue them from his ineptitude.

* * *

Planning with Obi-Wan was only slightly more fruitful than it had been without. The Defenders kids had newer and even more radical ideas: everything from attacking the Emperor outright and forcing Sidious to show that he was a Sith to somehow broadcasting the clones firing on citizens like they did in the Outer Rim—but both Obi-Wan and Anakin vetoed the idea of putting anymore innocents in the line of fire.

Padme measured out a level of rationality and wisdom, dispelling the nuttiest of ideas and explaining how Naboo's infrastructure actually worked so it could be used to their advantage. All important, all useful information.

All knowledge Sidious already had and wouldn't allow to be used against him.

The more they talked, Acacia noticed the quieter Anakin became. As if the discussions irritated him more than anything else.

_Another wild bantha chase,_ she heard the thoughts whispered in his ForceMark and wondered if he'd meant to let them free.

"None of this is going to work," he cut in. "Give me a distraction, and I'll take care of him."

Ahsoka raised her eyebrows, and Rex cleared his throat. "Alone, Sir?"

"It's what the Prophecy claims," Anakin muttered.

"Be that as it may," Padme began, "he's... well, there's no reason for you to face him without help." Anakin and Padme exchanged a look that made everyone else uncomfortable. "Besides," she added, "I think there's another point we've all been ignoring."

Anakin crossed his arms, but his attitude wasn't directed at his wife anyway and they both knew it. "Oh?"

"Yes. We can't _just_ kill him. Hundreds of systems still see Palpatine as an altruistic elder who led us through the darkest days as the Galaxy was split in half and whom the Jedi attempted to murder for power. We have to prove that he isn't who he says he is _before_ we... end him. I you succeed without proving anything, you may have ended the Sith, but we'll still have the rest of the Galaxy to deal with."

"You bring up a good point," Obi-Wan stated, "but that may not turn out to be as difficult as you think.

"Palpatine executed his plan perfectly, except for one thing: once he and Vader were in power, they took control too quickly. We've had the Republic for so long, the Galaxy isn't used to the idea of a dictatorship, even if the former Chancellor is leading it. Many systems are becoming restless. Besides that, Jedi have always been, well—"

"Worshipped?" Chet offered.

"In a manner of speaking. We're... almost legendary to some people," Obi-Wan admitted with some degree of chagrin. "In any case, the idea of the Order leaping from war heroes to senseless killers is rather hard for many to take. Suggestions have been circling that the attempt on his life was the work of a select few and that dismantling the whole organization was paranoid; some even believe that it was a smokescreen for something bigger."

Chet snorted. "So there _are_ some thinking people left in the galaxy. Who knew?"

Padme nodded slowly—in response to Obi-wan, not Chet. "True. I mean, there was already the Delegation and a number of other planets have reached out to it lately. But how do we _prove_ it?"

"Simple," Acacia piped up with a smirk. "We force the Galaxy to face everything that he's done."

* * *

"Anakin." Obi-wan caught up with his former apprentice after the plans were finalized. "Are you...certain about this?"

Anakin paused. Turned back. The anger flared, and he tamped it down. Shrugged. "It's what their prophecy says, isn't it?"

"A prophecy that easily could've been misinterpreted."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "You don't think I'm the Chosen One?"

Obi-wan sighed, stopped as if considering his next words. "This isn't about the Prophecy or about your skills. It's about _you_ suddenly deciding to take him on now. Why?"

Because the Sith trailed his every move, closing in around him. Because Sidious kept pulling new policies and whiplash-changing the game and raising the stakes and spinning the entire Galaxy out of control. Because Anakin was tired of running around chasing banthas, ruining his family with his own incompetence while Sidious constantly threatened their lives.

He couldn't risk waiting again for Sidious' next attack. He couldn't risk not being strong enough to keep his family safe.

"Because we have to finish this. We've waited too long as it is. And it looks like I'm the only one willing to actually do it."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Anakin, you are not the only one who has noticed that the Emperor is evil. The Council has chosen now to attack. They're organizing strikes all over the galaxy, hitting him at as many strategic points as possible—"

"In hopes he won't be able to recover." Anakin nodded slowly. It made sense. Why put the weight of the worlds in the hands of one _boy_ that half the Council didn't even trust?

"Did you know?" he asked a second later. He could've stopped the words long before they were spoken—but he needed to know the truth.

Obi-Wan's eyes met his. "I'm sorry."

His lack of defense somehow made Anakin angry; even Obi-wan didn't have a reason for why the Council had done what they did in regards to the Prophecy, yet they had done it anyway. They had risked his _life,_ chosen not to trust him with the truth about his own "destiny," and didn't even have an explanation for their decision. Only Obi-Wan offered so much as an apology, and it had been a long time since that alone would be enough.

Anakin released a deep breath through his nostrils and crossed his arms. "That doesn't answer my question."

Obi-Wan sighed, closed his eyes, and in that second, Anakin sensed more feeling from his Master than he ever had: sadness, soul-weariness, and... was that fear? Fear of him?

No. Obi-Wan was afraid that he would lose him—or perhaps that he had already.

"No, I didn't know about the Prophecy until recently. I was researching our remaining holocrons for more on your newest ability—that incident with the energy reactor—when I stumbled upon the holocron of the prophecy. I wanted to tell you then, but Shaak Ti found me and claimed that the rest of the Council meant to tell you soon but were simply waiting on the correct timing."

"And how did they intend to determine that?"

Obi-Wan shrugged, allowing a slight smile. "The Force?"

"Hmmph." It was as much amusement as Anakin could manage. But something loosened in his chest; it was easier somehow to face the next step knowing that Obi-Wan had been kept as in the dark—pun intended—as he himself had. Perhaps he wasn't the only one the Council didn't trust. "Why didn't they tell you?"

"At first, they simply wanted to observe you, to see whether or not you could actually grow into the Chosen one the Prophecy and other legends spoke of. Once they determined that you were as close as the Galaxy was likely to get," Obi-Wan gave a strange scoff, "well, they had deemed me too attached to you to be trusted with the truth."

It _wasn't_ just him they were wary of.

"There was something else I discovered in my research," Obi-Wan added. "On the issue I was actually searching for."

Anakin's eyes met his, and a bit of their camaraderie slipped back. "Yes?"

"Now bear in mind, this is just a theory. I could be completely wrong."

"As if."

Obi-Wan gave the slightest of smiles. "The Force is the energy of the universe. It surrounds and resides in each of us, however in some more strongly than others, allowing those few to manipulate their surroundings to a certain extent—"

"Master, I know this lesson."

"Bear with me, Anakin. But how? How do we manipulate our surroundings? How does the Force flow through everything? What is the Force's connection with matter?"

Anakin shrugged. "Do we have to play this game?"

"_Midi-chlorians_. Midi-cholorians are matter; the Force is energy. They are separate but one, constantly converting to each other and allowing the adept Force-User to manipulate them at will. Midi-chlorians connect our matter to the Force's energy and to the surroundings we intend to manipulate and vice versa. The same as you connected to the energy of the reactor and expelled it from your ship."

"Okay," Anakin said slowly. "I follow so far. But how did I actually _do _that?"

"Anakin, were you never told your midi-chlorian count?"

"Should I have been?"

"_20,000_. You have more in your cells than any known counted being; you simply contain more of the Force in you and therefore have more potential than any other soul. That is the Council's largest reason for believing you to _be_ the Chosen One. So as I said, this is not your ability. With time _and_ training, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to defeat Sidious. This is about your motive, and your sudden desperation to finish him now."

Anakin shook his head. "I'm not desperate and this isn't sudden. I should have finished him long before he got started."

* * *

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	59. Chapter 54

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* * *

Chapter 54

A beep rang out from her comm unit, and Acacia sprang out of her meditative stance. It was night, most of the others had retired for the evening, and Acacia had planned to do the same—after she did a few meditation exercises to strengthen her Force-connection for the upcoming battle. She'd actually been doing them well, for once. Even faced up to her demolished childhood home without quaking on the inside.

The comm rang again, and she snatched it up. Since Anakin had gotten her a new comm unit after being a Jedi became illegal, there were only a few people who _could _contact her now and anyone who did likely had something urgent to say.

Kady's face rose from the imagecaster. "Hey." She gave a little wave. "You awake?"

Acacia smirked. "Am now. Is something wrong?"

Her best friend shrugged a little sheepishly. "Sort of. It's about the festival in a few days. There's... well, there's been a slight change of plan."

Only a day out from their strategy session and things were already falling apart. Acacia sighed, breathed deeply, then released her emotions in another breath. She couldn't afford to let the fear take her over, couldn't lose the peace her mother's hologram had given her; especially not when she sensed that everyone from Anakin to the Defenders were emotionally compromised in some way. "Fine. I'll get Anakin and Obi-Wan."

"Ah... actually, can you come down to the ships alone? We wanted to tell just you first."

Acacia frowned. "Why?"

"Because then you can convince them to see our side."

"Kady, what did you—"

"Just trust me." Her friend's voice came out strangely thick and her brown eyes slipped to the ground.

If Kady wasn't her best friend, all of Acacia's Jedi instincts would be on red alert right now. "It's not that I don't trust you, Kady. It's that we're days out from a major battle, and you're asking me to meet you in the woods at night. "

Kadalia laughed; it was the first time Acacia had heard something so genuine in what felt like weeks. "All right," Kady said. "I can see how that would seem a little suspicious." Kady blew a piece of hair out of her face and shook her head. "Honestly, Caish... we don't really think Anakin's plan is going to work. It's too risky and it puts too much pressure on him to follow through and take Sidious out. We want to have some... insurance, I guess. Other methods that'll guarantee we can still beat the Sith if Anakin... you know. Fails."

Acacia took another deep breath. "Okaaay. That still doesn't explain why you can't talk to him."

"Come on, Caish. We _both_ know he'll see it as a 'we don't think he's strong enough to get the job done,' kind of thing. Especially in his current frame of mind. I convinced the others we should to talk to you first since you're the most likely to listen to a couple of kids—being one and all—and make sure those Masters hear us out. They'll listen to _you,_ Anakin and Obi-Wan, and they'll listen to us if you back us."

Acacia tried to ignore the squirmy feeling that claimed Kady's words sounded a lot like a politician's. "All right, fine, I'll come. But what did you guys actually _do_?"

Kady smirked. "It's nothing too bad. We just think several of our ideas are stronger than they gave us credit for. So, we took the necessary steps to prove it by putting them in action."

* * *

The first thing Acacia noticed when she entered the campsite was the two unfamiliar officers standing near the hatch of the Defenders' ship. "Okay..." she trailed off, wondering how much the men knew and how thorough the Defenders' background checks had been—assuming they'd had _any_. "So what exactly did you mean by 'necessary steps'?"

"Relax," Kady said, leaning against the open hatch. "These guys are completely on our side."

"Captain Corson Stiffneck," the first man, medium-skinned with blue eyes, said, stepping forward to shake her hand, "formerly of Naboo."

"Stiffneck?" she asked as their palms connected. He didn't look much like the guard she'd fought alongside in the Coruscant battle several weeks ago, but Stiffneck wasn't exactly a common last name.

"Ah, yes." Corson chuckled. "My brother told me about the young Jedi with Senator Amidala who made sure everyone got to safety during the Battle of the Lower Levels. It's how we knew to come looking for Jedi on Naboo. Nice job, by the way."

"Thanks." None of that explained why they were here or why they'd been looking for Jedi in the first place. Acacia turned to Kady, eyebrows raised.

"Look, Acacia," her best friend started, "like I said before—"

"Your brother's flying off the station." Chet hopped down from the ship's entrance. "There's no way we can take Emperor Sid with his plan. _So_," he drawled out, with a slight smirk to her glower, "we took it upon ourselves to get some outside help."

"Just because Anakin's methods may seem a little unorthodox—"

"What Anakin _normally_ does is unorthodox," Kady corrected. "This, _this_ is suicidal."

"So is bringing unauthorized officers into a delicate operation _without_ the okay of the commanding officers."

"Relax," Chet said. "We weren't stupid about it. The only people we even came near were 100% for the rebellion; Lue-Ann's an emotional expert and she made sure of that. Besides," He nodded at Corson, "you met his brother."

"Family don't always agree on everything." She and Anakin had argued often enough and even now... well, she was about as big a fan of Anakin's current plan as the Defenders were—but she also wasn't about to go behind her brother's back over it.

"It's only wise that you'd be wary," Corson said. "Matter of fact, I'm glad you are. Means you're not dumb. But as time is of the essence, maybe I can shed some light on the subject and ease your fears."

Acacia eyed him then nodded slowly. "Go ahead."

"I used to work closely with Nabooian Intelligence, and Losrac here," Corson gestured to the man on his left, with skin slightly lighter than a clone's and shoulder-length black hair, "worked on the new clone project. We'd been concerned about the power Palpatine was gaining since he became Chancellor, and as he got more and more powerful, we kept a closer and closer eye on him and his projects. When he announced the Empire, our fears were confirmed. He was manipulating people for his own personal gain, and the Galaxy wasn't any better for it. We even suspected that he'd orchestrated the war—"

"See! These guys are even smarter than us."

"—but we were willing to stay and continue watching him... until we came across this." He took out a small datachip and plugged it into a datareader.

Up popped a hologram of the most massive space station Acacia had ever seen. Her eyes popped and her mouth rounded. "It looks like a small moon."

"Unfortunately, it's no moon." Corson spun the image to show an opening in the surface big enough to fit a few flagships.

"Is that a..."

"Superlaser." He nodded.

Acacia sucked in a breath. "A weapon that big. It could destroy a planet."

"Exactly." Corson pocketed the chip and reader. "I don't know the exact title, but I've overheard it nicknamed _Project: Death Star_. Little overdramatic, but it'll definitely do the job."

Acacia nodded. "No kidding."

"After we found this, we gathered the few we knew weren't corrupt and started looking for Jedi and Jedi supporters. We knew we had to stop this before he'd finished enough to start threatening planets with it, and we figured he couldn't have killed you all off. We were planning to start on Alderaan, but then my brother let me know about you, and a little while later, these kids contacted us." He gave a small smile. "Looks like there was a group right under our nose."

Acacia nodded, assessing his story. The remnants of her meditation showed her that his Mark felt genuine enough; if he was lying, even he didn't know it. And if they could use this piece of information as well... "All right. How close is this Death Star to being finished?"

"We're not sure. We know there's some finishing touches they still need to put on, so we may have a couple of months... and we may not."

"So, Caish?" Kady asked.

She sighed. "Yeah, I'll let them know. But I don't think Anakin's going to like any of this."

* * *

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	60. Chapter 55

**Hey all! Here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 55

The anger flared in his chest—those kids could have jeopardized the entire mission _and_ gotten his family killed—but with Padme and Acacia there, Anakin forced himself to at least sound calm. "And _why_ did they think telling untried officers about our plan to kill the Emperor and inviting them to participate was a good idea?"

Acacia eyed him—perhaps he had not been quite as calm as he'd thought. "They... think the plan has some holes—"

"Every plan does."

"_I_ know that. But... I don't know. I guess they thought we needed more people to take all the stations. It is a lot that we're trying to do all at once..."

Bantha crap. They believed he couldn't do it.

"Ani." Padme's voice. "If these men actually are for our cause, this might help rather than hurt."

Oh, not _this_ again. Padme had been "suggesting" and politician-style hint-dropping since the planning session. When he'd refused to pick any of her hints up, she'd told him to his face that he was being egotistical and reckless and that charging in the way he wanted would very likely get him killed.

Well, she'd used more words than that. A beautiful speech, really. Would've won her anything she wanted had it been a proposal in the Senate.

But _he_—Anakin—wasn't the Senate.

In fact, he'd been angry, near furious; but then a tidal wave of her fear had crashed into his ForceMark, and suddenly, he was just as weary and frightened as she was. So he'd asked his wife if she had any wiser ideas.

_Wait for a better time. There will be more opportunities! We can plan it out, use _precision_, instead of letting you leap headlong into this. Just give us a little more time._

But they didn't _have_ time. Not with Sidious stationing armed soldiers in pacifist neighborhoods, massacring entire Resistance stations, and especially not with this new _"__Death Star"_ development the Defenders' new friends had mentioned. Not when Owen might never walk again, Anakin's three-month-olds were suffering from smoke inhalation, and his wife still winced every time she moved. Not when the Dark was creeping in, the Sith were chasing them down, and Sidious would surely search them out no matter where they went.

Not when every day, another liberty died and the chances that his loved ones would survive disappeared a little more.

They didn't _have_ more time. In fact, he'd probably run out months ago.

"The fact is," Obi-Wan's voice interrupted his thoughts, and Anakin vaguely wondered how long the conversation had continued without him, "the Defenders have already informed these men that we are bringing the fight to the Empire. We can't take back their words; our only options are to work with them or imprison them until it's over."

"Too bad we don't have the resources for that," Acacia tried for a joke.

A small part of Anakin wanted laugh; it died in his throat.

"Who are they anyway?" Padme asked.

"I don't know for sure," Acacia said. "There were two men there and they claimed to have others who could help. Corson Stiffneck was the main speaker."

Padme nodded. "I know him. Typho"-her voice hitched, but she recovered so quickly Anakin only noticed because she was his wife-"recommended him if we ever needed help in Naboo security and he was"-hitch again, longer this time-"unavailable."

There was a pause, as they all tried to figure out how to react. Anakin leaned away from the window, watching his wife where she sat on their bed, demure, composed, hurting.

Because of the Emperor.

Because of Anakin, and all he'd failed to save.

She didn't need his sympathy; she needed him to kill a Sith Lord.

"So," Acacia broke the silence, "at least we know they probably are on our side."

Padme nodded, but Anakin thought her head stayed down too long, as though she was trying to control a spasm of emotion fighting for control of her face. "Yes," she finally said. "Almost definitely."

"And in the end, we have more men," Obi-Wan stated. "It is disturbing that young Jedi would choose to so directly and dangerously disobey orders."_ Honestly though, is it surprising?_ "But what they have done, they have done, and it may actually come out to our advantage."

Maybe.

"Do you want to meet with them now?" Acacia asked.

Obi-Wan checked the window behind Anakin; the strange not-night, not-morning time between midnight and dawn. "Yes," he said. "Acting now won't harm us, but putting it off may."

He sounded like a Master again.

Padme and Obi-Wan left to, respectively, ask 3PO and R2 to watch the twins and prepare the ship, but through some unquestioning thread that couldn't even be defined as telepathy, Anakin and Acacia stayed put, and Padme and Obi-Wan didn't question it.

"You didn't help them." It wasn't an inquiry because he already knew the answer, but Acacia still felt the need to shake her head.

Her brother crossed his arms and his stance switched to a military one: he was preparing to look confrontational so he wouldn't seem so weak; he used the windowframe for support.

_They think I'll fail._ The words whispered in the connection between them, and he tried to snatch them back, but they'd already passed from his brain to hers with no hope for recovery.

"It's not like that," she said, remembering Kady's words, trying to ignore them. "It's just... they think we're moving into this kinda quickly and we need the extra support if we're gonna press forward. That's all."

_We, not you_. She'd been very careful to phrase it that way.

"What choice do we have?" Somehow his words were dejected, determined, and defensive all at the same time. "He's going to find us no matter what we do."_ Fire clawed up the sand walls, leered over Luke and Leia, ready to leap; the babies screamed, pure terror, he fought to—_

"Anakin?"

Her voice yanked him back. "I'm not stupid, Caish. I know how risky this plan is. But my only other option is to wait, when you can bet he won't be waiting a _second._ He'll be tracking us down, killing more Jedi, killing _us."_ His eyes lifted to hers, haunted, like the days after he'd dreamed about Padme and their mother. "I refuse to wait around for him to slaughter my family."

Acacia swallowed, knowing how careful she had to be with her next words. In the end, all she could come up with was, "I know."

* * *

As they entered the forest's clearing, the unfamiliar presences smacked a danger sign across Anakin's ForceMark. His fingers shot silently to his lightsaber, but when he sensed no malice, he forced himself to relax. He doubted the newcomers could help as much as Padme hoped, but he also had no desire to kill anyone whose name didn't start with S- I- D- I- O- U- S.

Or V- A- D- E- R, for that matter.

Ahsoka exited one of the ships, followed by a tall man dressed like a Nabooian officer. Strangely, he carried no weapons, but Anakin noted the militant stance of his feet and shoulders and his deceptively wide blue eyes. The man introduced himself as the very Corson Stiffneck they'd all come to meet, and then everyone filed back into the ship and sat down. Like some sort of committee.

_Too much sitting, too much talking._ At least this time they had a deadline.

Anakin chose to stand near the ramp rather than relaxing with the others, but he eyed Padme with relief when she found a chair in the crowded interior. Though her wounds _were_ healing well, she really shouldn't have walked so far; however, she'd insisted, he hadn't had time to resist, and so along she had come, making the trek without a single complaint.

He half-hoped she'd let him carry her back though.

The meeting began; Anakin listened, but his eyes followed Corson's and Losrac's every movement. Corson remained spokesperson, explaining how the Defenders had found them and the many ways he and his men could help: added numbers, knowledge of the transmitter room they needed to disable the clones, the report of this_ "Death Star"_ (although no useful information, like when it would be finished or if Sidious intended to train the sights on Naboo the second he was offplanet). Anakin now understood though why Padme had wanted to accept their help: she'd been working with her security officer before Typho, Panaka, to recruit on-planet assistance anyway_._ Of course she couldn't tell the Queen and other officials that she was part of a plot to assassinate the Emperor, but she could make sure the right officers were "away" on That Day and that certain offices were occupied by friendly personnel. It was the smartest way to execute such a delicate plan.

And he hated it.

It was dangerous for her and it relied on too many others whom he wasn't sure he could trust. But she insisted that this was smarter than his plan (which basically consisted of: minor distraction, barge in, have Emperor's head on lightsaber). It was a big mission, yes, and as such required big numbers—she said.

He just hoped that no one she trusted ended up being the next Sabe.

The meeting wound down; Corson and his people were inserted where needed, and everyone claimed the distractions would be executed perfectly. Anakin's path to the Emperor would be clear.

On the way back, Padme's face was as impassive as ever (she didn't let him carry her), but her Mark felt a strange sense of relief, now that things were more carefully, more logically planned.

Now that less rode on him and his main danger would be whether or not he could win a simple duel.

Anakin stumbled as he was struck by the thought, _Was she trying to protect him?_

He was the last person who needed that.

* * *

The festival came and most of it went. As the celebrations closed, the rebels prepared and silently celebrated the end of an Empire long past its prime.

By the final day of the festivities, when security was beginning to relax for lack of action, the rebels were ready.

That morning, Anakin Skywalker rose long before the sun and clipped his lightsaber to his hip.

_Time to kill a Sith Lord._

* * *

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	61. Chapter 56

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* * *

Chapter 56

When Anakin finished getting ready, Padme was sitting on their bed, waiting for him. He wasn't sure what to say to her. They... well, they hadn't been _fighting_ exactly, but they hadn't been in perfect marital sync lately either. She still thought he was being reckless, diving into a sarlacc's pit when they could _wait_ and _plan_ and _make sure this thing_ actually worked. His actions irritated her. Because she didn't understand them.

_Owen's leg split open, eyes glassy. Acacia's eyes shining with pain; blood poured from Padme's wounds. Flames devoured the twins' cribs, then their blankets, then crawled towards—_

No one did.

"Good morning." Her voice was not stiff, but it didn't have the loving lilt he'd gotten used to either.

"Good morning," he said back. Two could play that game—but he didn't. He wanted his voice to tell her everything he meant: that _he_ understood _her_ anger, that he was sorry their lives were this way and that he'd failed so many times, but he was _fixing_ it today, didn't she see?

"Ani," she began, and her voice broke a little—not audibly, but he sensed something fissure in the Force around them. "I'm not going to try to dissuade you. Not after all we've done to make this work. But please... _please_—"

"I'll be careful." He said the words even though he didn't want to, the first time he'd ever purposefully and thoroughly lied to her, because he couldn't bear to hear the fear in her voice.

She only laughed. "You're never careful. And if you were _being_ careful, we wouldn't be going through with this plan in the first place." She sighed. "Just... I do need you, you know."

He knelt in front of her, took her hands in his, and kissed each one in turn. "I know. And you'll have me. After today, the Sith will be dead, the Empire will be crushed." _I'll have made the Galaxy safe for our children and for you._ "We'll finally be able to settle here. We can live in peace." Strange. He only then realized how deeply he desired that.

Peace.

Padme shook her head, but he couldn't tell exactly which part she was disagreeing with. "Be careful," she murmured, even though she'd just said he never was a few moment earlier. "And come back."

He kissed her lips and then pulled her to him; his eyes got lost in her hair and she buried her face in his chest. "I will."

* * *

Those stationed at home had been given their instructions, to keep watch over the twins and Padme's family in case things went badly. Padme and Anakin had just kissed the twins goodbye and Obi-Wan and Acacia were hovering by the door, when Darred hobbled over. Acacia could almost sense her brother's teeth grind.

"So you hate me," Darred stated as he faced Anakin with eyes of granite. "I still don't like you much either, but there's one thing I can't argue: you've done your best to protect my sister and her children." Acacia told him to resist pointing out that Padme was Darred's sister_-in-law_ and that the children were Anakin's as well; they didn't have time to trade technicalities with a traitor. "I want you to know that today we're fighting for the same side." Darred hoisted a longstaff and a blaster, even though they nearly knocked him off-balance because of his injuries. "You're not the only one with skills," he said to the few surprised glances. "The Emperor's men will suspect you're behind the attack and if you're not quick enough, they'll make their way here. I'm going to be prepared when that happens."

Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Acacia stared; Padme was the first to recover. She stepped forward and hugged Darred for the first time since his betrayal. "Thank you."

For once, Anakin found himself without words. Or at least having a profound difficulty forming the right ones. He could've mentioned sarcastically how Darred seemed to assume that the plan would fail. He could've commented harshly on the fact that this was partly Darred's fault anyway—somehow—for selling them out in the first place. He could've scowled or sniped or simply ignored him.

On the inside, he did all but the last; on the outside, he gave Darred a nod, didn't trust himself to speak lest one of the above possibilities should occur out loud, and then slipped out the door behind Padme and the others.

As the door shut behind him, he glanced back: Darred sat on the couch, weapons across his lap, still injured but determined to defend his family—his and Anakin's.

* * *

Their separation was the hardest part, but he had to believe he would see her again. So as soon as their lips parted and she and her company strode away, Anakin pushed his wife from the center of his mind, carefully tucking her into the special corner he'd kept for her since the moment they met. He kept the rest of his faculties open, focused on the coming battle.

His crew was silently grim as he led them, Obi-Wan, and Acacia towards the looming palace.

* * *

It was green and gold with large domed roofs, still covered in decorations from last night's festival because the planet had no idea that they intended to kill its Galaxy's ruler and probably wouldn't know what to think about it if they did. A few spires raised up from the buildings at patterned intervals. Acacia felt a strange pang; something about them reminded her of the Temple.

She felt a twitch in Anakin's ForceMark, but he didn't speak.

Corson, Cody, and Ahsoka's group broke off, headed for the security station. Theirs was one of the riskiest assignments and one of Padme's contributions: hijacking Nabooian security so that the Emperor would have no assistance from his guards, as well as altering the Imperial clones' brain chip with a new signal; hopefully, the signal would awaken the brainwashed clones and Cody and his team would be able to convince them to join the resistance's side.

Their shrunken company continued forward, keeping somewhere between the open streets and the dark alleyways, until finally they reached the back entrance to the palace that Padme had remembered from her time as queen. The door was unlocked with a smuggled key, and the group slipped inside. Their boots found a sudden silent padding on the red carpets.

_Red like blood._

They crept down the hall, preparing for battle.

* * *

Aboard the Defender's ship in the painfully hectic cockpit, Padme attempted to calm herself before the broadcast began. Their job: to give the other teams a necessary distraction without letting it trace back to their ship and getting all of them killed. Part of that would be Chet's doing. The rest would be the Force.

She wished they weren't operating under so much pressure, that they'd had more time to put this together, that Anakin had _listened_ to her—.

_Stop_, she told herself._ Breathe. Focus._

They were, they didn't, and he hadn't. So she had no choice but to make the best of the circumstance she was in.

She pinned the voice adjustor to her shirt, took another deep breath, and began.

* * *

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